The source said Falcon 8X and Falcon 2000S were delivered to the buyers in Vietnam in December 2018. He refused to reveal the prices of the helicopters, the nationality the helicopter registered, and the names of the two businessmen.

Doan Nguyen Duc, president of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group

Falcon 8X can accommodate 14 passengers with a flight range of nearly 11,900 kilometers. Falcon 2000S can contain eight passengers with the range of 6,200 kilometers. According to Aviationweek, one Falcon 8X is valued at $58 million, while one Falcon 2000S $30 million.

The source also said that six private helicopters are owned by Vietnamese businessmen.

Doan Nguyen Duc, president of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group, was the first person publicizing the purchase of a private helicopter. In 2008, Duc spent $5.1 million to buy a product of Beechcraft King Air 350. At that moment, Duc was one of the richest businessmen, topping the list of the 100 richest stock billionaires.

It is very costly to maintain helicopter. To be able to put the helicopter into use, Duc had to pay $2 million in tax, hire pilots and spend on technical maintenance. He had to spend VND300 million on the helicopter each month.

Duc’s King Air 350 mostly flew between HCM City and the localities where Hoang Anh Gia Lai’s projects were located, and flew to neighboring countries such as Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar with the flight range of 2,000 kilometers.

Duc said in local newspapers that he consulted with many people before buying the helicopter. He learned about the Vietnamese laws to find out what he could do and what were prohibited by the laws.

After five years of using a private helicopter, Duc could save time traveling. He sometimes met air traffic congestion, but the time for o waiting was just 5-10 minutes.

Like car owners, Duc said in general, one would want to buy a new helicopter after three years of use. He is planning to order another helicopter.

The owner of another private helicopter in Vietnam is Tran Dinh Long, chair of Hoa Phat Group. At the time when Long bought the helicopter, valued at VND17.4 billion, he was among top five richest stock billionaires. In 2011, the owner of Hoa Phat Group replaced the six-seat helicopter with a 12-seat one.

It is very costly to maintain helicopter. To be able to put the helicopter into use, Duc had to pay $2 million in tax, hire pilots and spend on technical maintenance. He had to spend VND300 million on the helicopter each month.

In 2013, Duc transfer the helicopter to Vietstar Airlines. The selling price was not revealed.

Duc recently has bought a helicopter at $1.3 million, but it serves agricultural production. The product will be used in Cambodia at Duc’s farms.

In 2011, Hoa Phat’s president sold the helicopter to the manufacturer and bought a new one. 

Le Ha

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