Aviation

The Hanoitimes - The volume of passengers in 2020 would plunge 46% to 43 million passengers compared to 2019, according to the Ministry of Transport. The Vietnamese aviation market would suffer more damages than any estimations made so far due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Transport. An airplane of Jetstar Pacific. Photo: Vietnam Airlines The ministry has said in a report sent to the prime minister that from April 1 to 23, the number of air travelers was only equivalent to 1-2% of the total before the pandemic. Most of the airplanes are grounded. Flag carrier Vietnam Airlines Corporation (VNA) announced its consolidated revenue in the first quarter decreased by 26% year-on-year. The Airports Corporation of Vietnam, which manages 21 airports across the country, also saw a decline of 24% in revenue . Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM), which provides navigation services to Vietnamese and foreign airlines, saw its revenue drop 60% in the January-March quarter. The volume of passengers in 2020 would plunge 46% to 43 million passengers compared to 2019, worse than any forecast scenarios, said the ministry. Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) estimated in the most optimistic scenario where the pandemic is contained in April, the number of air passengers would fall 15.4% year-on-year to 67 million. In a second scenario with the pandemic being controlled before June, total passengers of the market are predicted at 61.2 million, down 22.6% year-on-year. With the unexpected losses, the ministry has proposed many solutions to support the aviation industry, including the resumption of the flight routes and the increase of frequency of domestic flights from April 23. The ministry kept requesting the prime minister to provide financial and tax support policies for local transport businesses. …

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The Hanoitimes - The revival of the aviation industry was a result of efforts by the government and the tourism industry to stimulate domestic travel. With the social distancing orders loosened on April 23 after Covid-19 was contained, airports in Vietnam became busier in May, with air passengers jumping 14.3-fold from a month earlier to a total of 2.88 million. Source: Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. Chart: Nhat Minh. The revival of the aviation industry was a result of efforts by the government and the tourism industry to encourage businesses to offer promotional packages that stimulate the demand of domestic travelers while borders remain closed to foreigners. However, compared to the May 2019, the number of passengers fell 70% due to the suspension of foreign entry and travel restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. In May, the number of international passengers dropped 97.6% year-on-year to just 78,000 while the number of Vietnamese passengers decreased by 56.6% to 2.8 million. In particular, Vietnamese airlines transported 78,000 international passengers and 2.8 million domestic passengers in May. Source: the CAAV. Chart: Nhat Minh. On May 25, the government decided to issue e-visas for citizens of 80 countries from July 1. This would lay a foundation for welcoming foreign tourists again. Vietnam is expected to be the first countries in the world to open up to foreign tourists, according to WeSwap, the UK’s largest P2P travel money provider. Vietnam has had one of the lowest cases and death rates in the world, despite sharing a long border with China. The country has had just over 320 cases and zero deaths. It has gone 41 days without community infection as of May 26. …

[Read more...] about Vietnam aviation industry revived after social distancing orders removed

The Hanoitimes - Vietnam’s is considered as one of the fastest growing aviation markets in Asia. Vietnam should invest in hub airports in terms of scale and capacity instead of massively building ones, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV)’s proposal on its draft plan on the development of the national airport system by 2030, with a vision to 2050. Vietnam needs to build hub airports. Photo: Vietnam Airlines Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan said some airports are curently operating beyond the designed capacity, many of their items have not been upgraded, especially, no airport has been qualified in the international large hub category. Tuan was speaking at a conference held in Hanoi on March 3, which aimed to seek ideas for national airport system development. According to the draft plan, Vietnam will have 26 airports by 2030 and 30 ones by 2050, half of them will be international airports. With the strong growth in the aviation industry in the future, the plan on the national airport system needs being studied carefully to suit the current situation and the socio-economic development of the country, according to local experts. Localities proposed massively building airports According to the CAAV, some provinces have recently wanted to turn their provincial airport into international airport. However, airport is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the tourist development and investment attraction of a province. Other infrastructures are more essential to attract private investment as well as tourist arrivals. Phan Xuan Dung, Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, suggested that the plan on the national airport system development should be based on the projection of passenger number,  the overall transport network development as well as the air routes system and the development plan of each airport. At the same time, the aviation planning …

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