The Vietnamese aviation market will stay open to foreign carriers and
closely connected with the regional and international aviation sector.
The message was extended by the Civil Aviation
Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) to representatives from 51 international
airlines participating in the September 10 aviation promotion conference
in Ho Chi Minh City.
The conference aims to attract
more foreign airlines to operate flights to the five international
airports of Phu Bai in central Hue city, Cam Ranh in central Khanh Hoa
province, Lien Khuong in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, and
Can Tho and Phu Quoc in Kien Giang province.
During
the conference, authorities from CAAV and the five localities where the
airports are located briefed participants on the markets and aviation
development policies in each locality, while calling on the foreign
airlines to increase flights to the destinations.
They emphasised strong commitments to support the foreign carriers by
providing space, labour, convenient procedures to open representative
offices, passenger buses, infrastructure and service improvement and
promotion.
According to CAAV, the exploitation of
the five airports has yet to match their capacity as well as the tourism
potential of the localities.
Currently, only three airlines (Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air and Jetstar Pacific) operate flights at these airports.
In 2012, Lien Khuong airport, with a passenger capacity of 1.5-2
million per year, received only 388,000 passengers, while Can Tho and
Phu Quoc airports, designed to welcome 3 million passengers each year,
saw only 199,000 and 493,000 arrivals, respectively.
Currently, 51 foreign airlines are operating 68 air routes from 22
countries and territories to Vietnam. The domestic market is dominated
by four Vietnamese carriers with 41 routes from Hanoi, Da Nang city and
Ho Chi Minh City to 18 airports.
In 2012, the Vietnamese aviation sector received 310,000 flights carrying 37.5 million passengers and 650,000 tonnes of cargo.-VNA