Vietnam Airlines needs more aircraft for growing business
HANOI - Vietnam Airlines said it desperately needs to find more aircraft for lease in order to operate its growing business but there very few suitable planes currently available.
'There are currently almost no aircraft to lease on the international markets,' said Vietnam Airlines spokesman Nguyen Chan.
'Even when some are available, they are owned by big financial groups, asking a very high price,' he told Agence France-Presse.
The flag carrier carried 2.8 mln foreign passengers last year, up almost 18 pct on 2004. It recorded six mln passengers in all on some 50,000 flights, both record figures.
The airline, one of the most profitable state-owned enterprises in Vietnam, has recently bought several Boeing and Airbus aircraft but they will only be delivered over the next few years.
Vietnam Airlines president Nguyen Xuan Hien said in a Vietnam Investment Review report that his company was targeting growth of 14-16 pct this year but without additional aircraft, that may not exceed 5.0-6.0 pct.
Nguyen Chan refused to comment on these figures but said the company would have to keep trying hard this year to find Airbus A330s and Boeing 777s.
'It looks difficult because demand is growing rapidly,' he said. 'We would prefer Airbus A330s but if we find any (smaller) A320s available, we would take them,' he said.
An industry insider, who asking not be named, confirmed the shortage.
'At the moment, there are only five A330s available ... They used to belong to the former Sabena (now SN Brussels Airlines) and are currently owned by banking pools and export-credit agencies,' he said.
Several other airlines are interested in leasing planes but the owners would prefer to sell them, he added.
Vietnam Airlines has averaged a growth rate of 14 pct over the past 10 years. In the coming five years, it plans to double the number of passengers carried to 12 mln.
The International Air Transport Association has said Vietnam's air travel industry will grow by 10.5 pct per year for the next 10 years.
AFX News Limited - January 3, 2006.
Vietnam Airlines may not launch US flights
HANOI - Vietnam Airlines is unlikely to launch its first direct flights to the United States this year as it had planned due to shortage of aircraft and inconclusive arrangements for a transit point, an airline official said Friday.
"We have been in talks with aircrafts manufacturers and leasers for more than a year, but have been unable to lease long-haul aircraft's for direct flights to the U.S." said Pham Ngoc Minh, deputy general director of the state-owned carrier in a telephone interview.
Talks with several countries about the stopovers have also been inconclusive, he said.
The state-owned carrier had originally planned to open direct flights to its former wartime foe in late 2005 or early 2006. Minh would not give a timeframe of when the airlines would be able to fly directly to the U.S.
Minh attributed the shortage of long-haul aircraft for lease to the recent huge orders from airlines in China and India.
Vietnam Airlines has ordered four Boeing Dreamliner 7E7, but delivery is not expected before 2009, he said.
Minh said the United States is Vietnam's biggest air transport market with 300,000 arrivals last year. There is an estimated 1.5 million overseas Vietnamese living in America.
United Airlines has offered direct flights from San Francisco to Ho Chi Minh City since late 2004, when it became the first U.S. airline to fly commercially to Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.
The Associated Press - January 13, 2006.
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