With upgraded and modernised infrastructure, the low-cost carrier Vietjet Air has significantly changed Vietnam’s aviation sector and given the public easier access to air travel since it launched flights in 2012. The carrier continues to focus on developing its fleet in a bid to expand its network. At the Paris Air Show 2015, Vietjet Air decided to purchase an additional six A321 aircraft worth 682 million USD, which are expected to be delivered in 2017. At the event, the low-cost airline signed a 60-million-USD credit agreement with French bank BNP Paribas, which had earlier consulted Vietjet Air about purchase-and-rent transactions of over 100 planes with Airbus. Besides the credit deal, the carrier inked a 1.5-million-USD insurance package for its fleet during the 2015-2016 period. Those agreements will serve as a catalyst for Vietjet Air to spread its wings in “open skies”, a move to make its brand closer to both domestic and foreign travellers. According to Vietjet Air Managing Director Luu Duc Khanh, the airline believes that with concerted reform efforts, it will receive further support to improve its scale and quality, contributing to building an integrated civil aviation sector. Thanks to the Government’s policy to privatise air transport as well as Vietjet Air’s strategic investment plan, the airline has seen stellar performance with the transportation of over 12 million passengers over the past three years. Local airports are now bustling with Vietjet Air’s domestic and international flights. Never before have so many flights operated between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; there are currently more than 50 daily flights connecting the country’s two largest hubs, departing every 15-20 minutes. According to statistics from the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, Vietjet Air contributed 70 percent to the Vietnamese air transport growth of 26 percent in the first six months of 2015. The carrier has made air travel affordable for Vietnamese people and escalated competitiveness in the aviation sector, having a positive ripple effect in other carriers’ operation. The airline has received eight modern aircraft in the contract to purchase 107 jets from Airbus, increasing the total number of modern planes in its fleet to 26 including A320 and A321 generations. It has also helped popularise images of a proactive and modern Vietnam to international friends, paving the way to develop tourism and draw more investments to the country.-VNA