Trial results on the newly proposed Hanoi-HCM City air route through Laos and Cambodia show that the route is 85km shorter, saving five minutes of flying time and 190kg of fuel, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) reported on September 4.

On September 3-4, flight simulator (SIM) tests were run by the CAAV in co-operation with Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air on a potential flight route from Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport to Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on a more direct route including over Laos and Cambodia.

According to CAAV, the total length of the route was 1,191km, with a flying time of 103 minutes and fuel consumption of 4,140kg.

This move is part of ongoing efforts to launch the route as soon as possible, following Transport Minister Dinh La Thang’s instructions, expecting it to shorten flights between Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports, and save fuel.

In March 2009, the CAAV received a proposal for the Hanoi-HCM City ‘golden air route’ from former pilot Mai Trong Tuan.

The proposed air route would mean flights between the capital and the southern economic hub traverse Lao and Cambodian airspace, rather than the ocean, no longer following Vietnam's S shaped coastline.

Nhandan/VNN