All six companies in the aviation sector reported profits, said Lai
Xuan Thanh, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).
Vietnam Airlines Corporation, Vietnam Air Navigation Services
Corporation and Airports Corporation of Vietnam have never seen losses
and continued to grow this year.
Vietnam’s budget
private carrier, VietJetAir, also reported 120 billion VND (5.7 million
USD) pre-tax profits for the first seven months of the year while
Jetstar Pacific and Vietnam Air Service Company (VASCO) announced
profits for the first time.
VietJetAir’s Executive
Director Luu Duc Khanh said that making a profit was beyond the
company’s expectations after only two years of operation. They initially
set a modest goal of breaking even within three years.
A representative from VASCO said that the company had a balance of 23
billion VND in the eight-month period and had effectively exploited the
domestic routes.
The information surprised experts,
given that airline companies faced many difficulties in the past three
years with several firms closing.
In February, Air Mekong temporarily ceased operation to restructure; Jetstar also experienced financial difficulties.
Luu Thanh Binh, Deputy Head of CAAV, expressed optimism about the
market, saying that Asia in general and Vietnam in particular had seen
double digit growth despite the slowdown in the world market.
He predicted that the domestic aviation market would have a growth rate of 15 percent in terms of passenger transport.
Luu Thanh Binh attributed the strong showing to increasing interest in
air travel as well as Vietnam becoming one of the most popular
destinations for international tourists.
He said air
crew restructuring helped Jetstar Pacific become profitable, while
changing from the Boeing 737-400 to A320 model helped the company save
17 percent of control costs over the same period last year.
However, both experts warned that the increasing popularity of budget
carriers posed a significant threat to both economy and high-class
market segments that could show an effect by the end of the year.-VNA