Le Hong Ha has been appointed General Director of the Vietnam Airlines Corporation

Ha, born in 1972, began working for Vietnam Airlines in 1994. He was appointed as Deputy General Director of the corporation in 2012, becoming the youngest person to hold the position.

He has also been Chairman of the Members Council of the Vietnam Air Petro Company Limited (Skypec) since 2018. In August 2020, Ha was elected to the Board of Directors of Vietnam Airlines.

Vietnam Airlines anticipated a loss of 12 trillion VND (520 million USD) in 2020, or 2.42 trillion VND lower than previous prediction, it said at the extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on December 29.

According to Chairman of Vietnam Airlines Dang Ngoc Hoa, although the corporation has been hard hit by the pandemic, its business achievement is better than expected.

As of the end of December, the corporation’s consolidated revenue is estimated at 42.5 trillion VND, with parent company’s revenues topping 32.9 trillion VND, exceeding the targets set at the shareholders’ meeting on August 10 by 4.8 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.

This year’s loss could be slashed further by 2.86 trillion VND when the corporation completed adjustments for depreciation and distribution of repair and maintenance costs in line with the Government’s support policy.

The corporation, consisting of the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, Pacific Airlines and Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO), operated 96,500 flights, and transported some 14.23 million passengers and nearly 194,500 tonnes of cargo in 2020.  Besides, more than 180 flights were arranged to bring home over 52,000 Vietnamese expats from 30 countries and territories worldwide.

Hoa attributed the corporation’s better-than-expected performance to the nation’s good control of the COVID-19 pandemic, stable business environment, timely support from the Government, and its drastic measures to re-organise operation and cut expenditure.

During 2021-2025, Vietnam Airlines will focus on restoring business activities, undertaking comprehensive restructuring plan which include restructuring of capital ownership and finance, assets and portfolios.

Hoa said, the corporation will work to improve business efficiency with the sell and leaseback (SLB) of aircraft, as well as wholly or partly divest capital in enterprises with excellent performance with a view to better cash flow.

The government, through the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), is holding over 86 percent of shares in the company, while Japanese aviation company ANA Holdings has an 8.7 percent stake, and other organisational and individual investors own the remainder./.VNA

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