Vietnam’s second richest man buys new aircraft at $20-27 million: media

Doan Nguyen Duc, 53, is the man who has just bought a Legacy 600 at more than US$20 million, according to VTC News.

But newswire VnExpress said the price could be as high as $27 million.

Legacy 600 is a business jet derivative of the Embraer ERJ 145 family of commercial jet aircraft and it has seating for two crew and 13-14 passengers, according to its maker Embraer.

Embraer says that the Legacy 600 can carry four passengers for 6,297km and eight passengers for 6,019km, adding the plane can reach Mach 0.78 for a normal speed cruise and Mach 0.80 at a maximum operating speed. (Mach 1 = the speed of sound)

The aircraft has five 8″ x 7″ LCD displays and CCD, charts and maps capability, a data loader 1000 with SD card and USB ports, dual integrated computers, touchscreen PCUs at each seat, and other modern equipment, according to Embraer.

Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper said that in order to buy an aircraft, Vietnamese individuals have to prove that they have had pilots work for them, have maintenance facilities, and ensure aviation and defense security.

Buyers are required to register their airplanes with competent agencies after meeting these requirements, the paper reported, adding that they have to apply for a license before each flight.

Duc splashed out about $7 million on a Beechcraft King Air 350, imported from the U.S., in 2008 and said he would use the turboprop for business trips.

That turboprop is 10 meters long and has its wings spread over 15 meters, An Ninh Thu Do (Capital Security) newspaper said, adding that it can fly 3,500km on end and hit the maximum speed of 583km per hour.

The newspaper, which is managed by Hanoi police, said that state-owned Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation will buy Duc’s turboprop for its operations.

Duc is now chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group whose portfolios range from mining, cow raising, rubber planting to real estate and hydropower plant construction.

He owns a Vietnamese league club, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, and an Arsenal-supported football training center, the Hoang Anh Gia Lai-Arsenal JMG Football Academy, which he spent $4 million founding in 2007.

He is the second richest man in Vietnam with his stock value topping VND7,575.118 billion ($353 million) in 2014, too whopping for Vietnamese whose GDP per capita was around $2,000 last year.

Pham Nhat Vuong topped the 2014 list of the wealthiest people on the stock exchange in Vietnam by VnExpress, with his assets worth 20,188.252 ($941 million). Vuong currently chairs real estate conglomerate Vingroup.

Many Vietnamese would throw a party and invite friends to celebrate when they purchase a new motorbike, the favored means of transport in the Southeast Asian country.

But there is no word from Duc as to such celebration for his new airplane.