Vietnam Airlines keeps world turmoil at bay
HANOI - Vietnam Airlines has avoided
turbulence from the war in Iraq, and growing regional fears of a
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, to post solid
growth in the first quarter of this year, its director Nguyen Xuan
Hien said.
Passenger numbers rose 11 percent and cargo transport 32 percent
in the period, and from total revenues of VND3.4 trillion (US dlrs 227
million), the carrier remitted nearly VND205 billion to the state
budget, he said.
It carried over 1.1 million passengers on 10,400 flights in the
period for an occupancy rate of 70 percent.
However, the two major events have begun to make an impact.
Passenger numbers have fallen sharply from Europe and Japan, and
to compensate for sectors that could be hard-hit, it is planning new
domestic and unaffected routes like Ho Chi Minh City-Huy Hoa, Hanoi-
Siam Reap and Ho Chi Minh City-Fukuoka.
None of its flight staff has contracted the killer respiratory
disease, Hien said. And the carrier has coordinated with international
and domestic agencies to detect and isolate people showing symptoms of
SARS.
To ensure the safety of flights during the war, Vietnam Airlines
aircraft will fly at least 400km from Iraqi airspace, he revealed.
Despite these global events, the carrier plans to buy or lease six
Boeing 777s by 2005, receiving four of them this year alone.
IRNA (.ir) - April 8, 2003.
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