Eximbank lends Vietnam Airlines $400 mln -media http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-11-07T153338Z_01_HAN133492_RTRIDST_0_FINANCIAL-VIETNAM-LOAN.XML
Tue Nov 7, 2006
HANOI, Nov 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Eximbank will lend $400 million to help Vietnam Airlines purchase four Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) aircraft, state media said, in what would be the first U.S. loan to Vietnam after Hanoi secured its WTO membership.
Eximbank will sign a credit agreement with the unlisted national carrier on Wednesday in Hanoi, state-run VNExpress online newspaper (vnexpress.net) said on Tuesday.
Vietnam won a formal approval from the World Trade Organisation on Tuesday to become its 150th member by the end of the year.
The loan, Eximbank's third to Vietnam Airlines, will facilitate the purchase of four Boeing 787s, the newspaper said.
It gave no details of the loan, and airline officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
In June 2005 the airlines signed a contract to buy four 787 "Dreamliner" aircraft worth around $500 million at list prices for delivery in 2009 and 2010.
Vietnam Airlines has been working on a plan to open a direct flight to the United States. The plan has been delayed to late next year from mid-2006 partly due to a shortage of aircraft.
In July the government told it to immediately prepare plans to buy 10 more Boeing 787s, either the 787-9 or 787-10 models to expand its fleet, now with 40 aircraft.
The airline planned to have 60 aircraft by 2010 and 86 planes by 2015, Chief Executive Officer Nguyen Xuan Hien said last week.
The airline's January-September revenues fell 16.7 percent on a year earlier to $810 million due to higher costs and the impact of a typhoon, it said last month.
But passenger numbers rose 17.5 percent to 5.1 million during the first three quarters of this year on a year earlier, 2.3 million of them foreign visitors.
Its seat occupancy firmed to 73.8 percent during the July-September period from 66.98 percent in the previous three months, Vietnam Airlines said, without giving any profit figures.
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