~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2002]

Vietnam Airlines may start flights to Germany, Indonesia

HONG KONG - Vietnam Airlines, the country's national carrier, may start flights to Germany and Indonesia as the communist country widens investment and communications links with the rest of the world. 'We are now conducting a very serious study,' said Duong Tri Thanh, director of passenger marketing. 'The result will be known in the next two months.'

Vietnam is opening up to outside investment to other parts of the world as it turns from a communist economy to what the government calls 'a market economy with a socialist orientation'. Economic growth in the South-east Asian country has averaged about 7 per cent during the past decade.

The carrier is also planning to fly direct from Vietnam to France, Mr Thanh said. It currently operates three weekly flights to Paris from Hanoi and three from Ho Chi Minh. Both of them stop in Dubai. The carrier will take delivery of 6 Boeing Co 777 planes next year to replace older Boeing 767 planes and expand its fleet, Mr Thanh said.

Four of them were bought from Boeing last year and two were leased from International Lease Finance Corp. Vietnam Airlines operates 29 aircraft, including 10 Airbus SAS 320s, two A321s, eight B767s, seven ATR72s and two Fokker 70s. It bought five Airbus SAS A320 in October, which will be delivered between 2003 and 2005.

Boeing sees the potential demand for as many as four more B777 airplanes from Vietnam Airlines, Reuters reported. 'At the moment, we are not going to buy more,' Mr Thanh said. 'We may need a fleet of 40 to 50 airplanes in the coming five to 10 years.'

Bloomberg - December 16, 2002.