Vietnam's troubled private airline looks to fly
again
After over a year's hiatus and in a bid to hold onto its threatened
operating license, Air Mekong plans to resume operations next year, VnExpress
reported Friday. Vo Huy Cuong, deputy chief of the Civil Aviation Authority of
Vietnam (CAAV), was quoted as saying that the carrier filed its restructuring
plan and relevant reports with his agency last month.
CAAV has asked the Ministry of Transport to disregard an earlier proposal
to scrap Air Mekong's license, Cuong said. In March, the agency asked the
ministry to consider revoking the license, after the carrier failed to inform
CAAV of its plans on March 1--the one year anniversary of its suspension of
operations.
Vietnamese law stipulates that aviation businesses should lose their
operating licenses after 12 months of inactivity. "To be honest, we [CAAV]
always want Vietnam's aviation industry to have as many airlines as possible,"
Cuong said about the licensing extension.
A market is healthy only when many companies participate in it, he said.
Competition improves products and ensures cheaper prices. "We still want to
fly," Air Mekong Chairman Doan Quoc Viet told VnExpress.
He said the airline will start selling tickets at the end of the year and
resume flights at the beginning of next year. VnExpress quoted unnamed sources
as saying that the carrier will probably not continue to fly Bombardier CRJ 900s
anymore.
The aircraft's high operation and maintenance costs were partially blamed
for Air Mekong's significant losses. Soon after its suspension of services, the
airline returned its four Bombardier CRJ-900 airplanes to a leasing company as
part of its restructuring efforts.
The airline had been in business for less than two and a half years. The
carrier, established with VND280 billion ($13.3 million), used to be one of
three private airlines in the country.
Another, Indochina Airlines, ran up huge losses and lost its license in
2011. VietJet Air is now the sole private carrier operating in the country.
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