Air France KLM unit in $500 million maintenance deal with Vietnam Airlines

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam Airlines has awarded Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance a $500 million contract to provide aircraft maintenance service to Vietnamese airline, it said in a statement.

Under the contract signed in Paris on Monday, AFI KLM E&M, a unit of Air France KLM group, will handle maintenance of Vietnam Airlines' 787 GEnx engines for 12 years, Vietnam Airlines said.

The country's flag carrier said it aims to raise its fleet of Boeing 787s to 19 by 2021.

(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Eric Meijer)