Three foreign banks have signed a contract to provide 457 million USD to Vietnam Airlines, to buy eight Airbus A321-231S aircraft, the national flag carrier said on May 23.

The sponsors include Citibank, a member of the US-based Citigroup, the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), and the Hong Kong-Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC). As major financial and banking institutions in the US and Asia, these banks have opened representative offices in Vietnam .

Vietnam Airlines said the purchase is part of a plan to expand its fleet to 115 aircraft in 2015 and 170 in 2020./.