ISTANBUL–Vietnam Airlines’ Airbus A321neo grounding situation is improving as the flag carrier starts to receive support on the troubled Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines. The carrier now has three A321neos grounded, compared to six three months ago.  

During the grounding the airline had to use widebody aircraft for domestic routes like Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Airlines director of corporate planning & development Nguyen Quang Trung told ATW at the IATA AGM in Istanbul. 

He said the airline’s PW1000G engines are serviced in Singapore or Europe, and expects all aircraft to return to service by the end of June. 

AviationWeek Fleet Data Services shows Vietnam Airlines has 20 A321neos. In comparison, its LCC competition Vietjet Air now has all aircraft serviceable, although it had one aircraft affected in May. 

Separately, Vietnam Airlines’ LCC subsidiary Pacific Airlines is in the process of restructuring its ownership as it looks for new investors. Vietnam Airlines now holds 98% of the carrier after it acquired the airline from Jetstar in June 2020. The plan is to reduce the stake in Pacific Airlines for new investors. Nguyen expects the restructuring to be completed by 2024. He added that there are no plans to transfer A321neos to Pacific Airlines, which now flies 10 A320s.