The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has decided to revoke the operating
licences of private domestic carriers Indochina Airlines and Trai Thien
Air Cargo.
Dinh Viet Thang, Deputy Director of Civil
Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) told the newspaper Thoi bao
kinh te Vietnam (Vneconomy) that Indochina Airlines had ceased
operating flights on November 25, 2009 due to a number of difficulties
including unresolved debts.
Indochina Airlines was the
first operational private airline in Vietnam , originally licensed in
May 2008. It began operations in November of the same year.
After getting the licence, the airline had registered to fly eight
commercial flights on the Hanoi – HCM City and HCM City – Da
Nang routes.
However, because of the global downturn
and a drop in customers, the carrier was forced to reduce its fleet and
its number of flights by half until it finally discontinued service in
November 2009.
At the beginning of last month, the Asian
JS Commercial Bank sued Indochina Airlines for uncollected debt worth
1.3 million USD.
Meanwhile, Trai Thien Air Cargo, with a
total charter capital of 500 billion USD (23.8 million USD), received
its operating licence for air cargo transport services in Vietnam and on
international routes in June 2008 but failed to begin operating.
According to CAAV, five private airlines including Indochina Airlines,
VietJet Air, Trai Thien Air Cargo, Blue Sky Air and Air Mekong have been
licensed since the first licence was granted by the Government to a
private airline about four years ago.
Air Mekong is currently the only one to offer flights on domestic routes.
Earlier this week, VietJet Air announced that it will begin domestic
flights from December 25, four years after it gained approval from
authorities for operations.
A draft decree on aviation regulations is currently being considered by CAAV.
Under the draft, organisations and individuals with a fleet of up to 10
aircraft will be required to have a minimum of 300 billion VND (15
million USD) in charter capital to operate domestic flights and 800
billion VND (38.8 million USD) to operate international flights.
The draft to amend Government Decree 76 on aviation regulations will
require companies planning to operate more than 10 aircraft to have a
minimum charter capital of 1 trillion VND (48.5 million USD) in
comparison with the current 800 billion VND.
If the draft is approved, the tenure of each carrier’s business licence will be cut from 24 months to 18 months.
The draft additionally suggests that carriers must obtain Aircraft
Operator Certificates within 12 months of receiving business licences,
instead of within 24 months as currently regulated.
Business licences will be revoked if carriers fail to start operations within 18 months.
Vo Huy Cuong, head of the CAAV Transport Department said that existing
requirements for carrier charter capital had proven out of date due to
inflation and the depreciation of the Vietnamese dong against the US
dollar.
Higher charter capital requirements will deter
incompetent organisations from operating in the aviation sector, keeping
the market healthy and stable, Cuong said./.