The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has decided to revoke the operatinglicences of private domestic carriers Indochina Airlines and Trai ThienAir Cargo.
Dinh Viet Thang, Deputy Director of CivilAviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) told the newspaper Thoi baokinh te Vietnam (Vneconomy) that Indochina Airlines had ceasedoperating flights on November 25, 2009 due to a number of difficultiesincluding unresolved debts.
Indochina Airlines was thefirst operational private airline in Vietnam , originally licensed inMay 2008. It began operations in November of the same year.
After getting the licence, the airline had registered to fly eightcommercial flights on the Hanoi – HCM City and HCM City – DaNang routes.
However, because of the global downturnand a drop in customers, the carrier was forced to reduce its fleet andits number of flights by half until it finally discontinued service inNovember 2009.
At the beginning of last month, the AsianJS Commercial Bank sued Indochina Airlines for uncollected debt worth1.3 million USD.
Meanwhile, Trai Thien Air Cargo, with atotal charter capital of 500 billion USD (23.8 million USD), receivedits operating licence for air cargo transport services in Vietnam and oninternational 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 beenlicensed since the first licence was granted by the Government to aprivate 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 domesticflights from December 25, four years after it gained approval fromauthorities 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 10aircraft will be required to have a minimum of 300 billion VND (15million USD) in charter capital to operate domestic flights and 800billion VND (38.8 million USD) to operate international flights.
The draft to amend Government Decree 76 on aviation regulations willrequire companies planning to operate more than 10 aircraft to have aminimum charter capital of 1 trillion VND (48.5 million USD) incomparison 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 AircraftOperator 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 existingrequirements for carrier charter capital had proven out of date due toinflation and the depreciation of the Vietnamese dong against the USdollar.
Higher charter capital requirements will deterincompetent organisations from operating in the aviation sector, keepingthe market healthy and stable, Cuong said./.
Dinh Viet Thang, Deputy Director of CivilAviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) told the newspaper Thoi baokinh te Vietnam (Vneconomy) that Indochina Airlines had ceasedoperating flights on November 25, 2009 due to a number of difficultiesincluding unresolved debts.
Indochina Airlines was thefirst operational private airline in Vietnam , originally licensed inMay 2008. It began operations in November of the same year.
After getting the licence, the airline had registered to fly eightcommercial flights on the Hanoi – HCM City and HCM City – DaNang routes.
However, because of the global downturnand a drop in customers, the carrier was forced to reduce its fleet andits number of flights by half until it finally discontinued service inNovember 2009.
At the beginning of last month, the AsianJS Commercial Bank sued Indochina Airlines for uncollected debt worth1.3 million USD.
Meanwhile, Trai Thien Air Cargo, with atotal charter capital of 500 billion USD (23.8 million USD), receivedits operating licence for air cargo transport services in Vietnam and oninternational 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 beenlicensed since the first licence was granted by the Government to aprivate 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 domesticflights from December 25, four years after it gained approval fromauthorities 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 10aircraft will be required to have a minimum of 300 billion VND (15million USD) in charter capital to operate domestic flights and 800billion VND (38.8 million USD) to operate international flights.
The draft to amend Government Decree 76 on aviation regulations willrequire companies planning to operate more than 10 aircraft to have aminimum charter capital of 1 trillion VND (48.5 million USD) incomparison 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 AircraftOperator 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 existingrequirements for carrier charter capital had proven out of date due toinflation and the depreciation of the Vietnamese dong against the USdollar.
Higher charter capital requirements will deterincompetent organisations from operating in the aviation sector, keepingthe market healthy and stable, Cuong said./.
