At a conference held in Da Nang yesterday, a working group of the Ministry of Transport reached an agreement to open a direct route from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City with Laos and Cambodia. Officials of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) said the direct route would be launched in June 2015 to replace the current route.

In the early stage, the three countries agreed to open a one-way route from HCM City to Hanoi, with a flight level of FL350 (35,000 feet). To save the most fuel,this is an optimum flight level appropriate to aircraft speed.

In addition, Vietnam has proposed that Laos and Cambodia reduce the transit fees through their airspace. But CAAV is still waiting for an answer from the two governments.

In late August, the Ministry of Transport asked for the government’s permission to resume research on a direct route between Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City through Laos and Cambodia in order to reduce flight time and fuel.

According to the testing results by CAAV and Vietnam Airlines in a  flight simulator, the direct route can help save five minutes of flight time, 86km in distance and 190kg of fuel.

S. Tung

http://vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/thoi-su/mo-duong-bay-scale-ha-noi-tp-hcm-tu-scale-6-2015-3093470.html

Viettel starts operations in Peru

VietNamNet Bridge – The Military Telecom Corporation (Viettel) has launched mobile services under the brand name Bitel in Peru.

The launch is a new step in the global development of Viettel. With 3G coverage and distribution channels over Peru, Bitel should quickly obtain more than 200,000 subscribers.

Bitel’s 3G coverage has reached nearly 80% of the Peruvian population.

“The company has set a goal of becoming a major player in the Peruvian market, providing high-speed internet and other telecom services to the people of the country,” said General Director Bitel Hoang Quoc Quyen.

Peru is the first foreign market of Viettel where the GDP is three times higher than Vietnam’s.

Viettel has launched services in eight other countries, including Laos, Cambodia, Haiti, Mozambique, Timor Leste, Peru, Cameroon and Peru.

Last week, Viettel was licenced to build a 3G mobile network in the East African country of Tanzania. According to Reuters, the Minister of Telecommunications, Science and Technology of Tanzania, January Makamba, said Viettel would build the network from November 1 and begin offering services in July 2015. Viettel expects to provide coverage to more than 4,000 villages in 2016.

On October 14,  the Swazi Observer newspaper of Swaziland said that Viettel was awaiting a business license.

Viettel Global - a member of Viettel - is in charge of implementing the corporation’s overseas projects.

In the first half of this year, Viettel Global earned VND6.75 trillion in revenue, an increase of 41% compared to the same period in 2013. Its net profit also increased three times from VND453 billion to VND1.3 trillion. Total assets reached more than VND30.1 trillion by June 30.

$1 = VND21,000

S. Tung