Vietnam Airlines eyes better balance sheet in 1999 HANOI - National carrier Vietnam Airlines said on Tuesday its operating environment had improved in the first quarter, making possible a recovery in the company's bottom line this year. An airline official declined to give specific profit forecasts, but indicated the airline broke even in the January-March period. ``The corporation was able to balance revenue and expenditure in the first three months of this year,'' said the official, who declined to be identified. ``If this situation continues we hope to see a better balance sheet this year,'' he added, but gave no further information on the firm's finances. Vietnam Airlines was a corporate success story in the communist-ruled country until the Asian economic crisis bit into tourist arrivals in 1997, sending it into the red for the first time with a loss of $3.6 million. Last year's results have not been released, although official media have said the company made a loss. The official said Vietnam Airlines carried around 672,000 passengers, including 256,000 on international routes, in the first quarter. This compared with 673,000 passengers overall in the same period last year, according to official media. Last year the airline said it had targeted 900,000 passengers on international routes in 1999, the same level as 1998. The number of passengers on domestic flights is expected to increase by two to three percent this year. Passenger growth slowed to two percent in 1997 and four percent in 1998 compared with growth above 30 percent in the early 1990s after Vietnam threw open its doors to foreign tourists and businessmen. Reuters - April 13, 1999.