Trai Thien Air Cargo

Trai Thien Air Cargo was established in June 2008 with registered capital of VND500 billion. This was the first private airline in Vietnam licensed to carry cargo and parcels domestically and internationally, with a focus on the domestic north-south market, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia.

The carrier received a license to carry cargo domestically by air from October 2009 with a Boeing 737-300 Freighter. However, even one year after the licensing, Trai Thien Air Cargo did not release airplane procurement and flight plans, while employees repeatedly complained about wage payment delays.

In December 2011, the airline business license was revoked as it did not operate, CAAV created favorable conditions for Trai Thien Air Cargo to provide domestic transport services.

Under current law, if an air carrier doesn’t take off within 12 months after the date of licensing, its business license is revoked.

Indochina Airlines

Excluding Jetstar Pacific which received a capital contribution from the state (represented by Vietnam Airlines), Indochina Airlines is considered the first private airline in Vietnam.

Indochina Airlines, owned by Ha Dung, a well-known musician, received the license in May 2008 with the name AirSpeedUp JSC and charter capital of VND200 billion. In October 2008, it was renamed into Indochina Airlines.

The carrier provided the first commercial flight in November 2008. In its golden days, Indochina Airlines provided flights on six air routes.

Later, because of influences from the global economic crisis that caused a dramatic fall in the number of passengers, Indochina Airlines had to cut half of the number of aircraft and flight frequency to two flights a week.

In September 2009, it decided to give up the HCM City - Da Nang route and only maintained the HCM City - Hanoi route with just one airplane.

In October 2009, Indochina Airlines stopped all trade promotions and gave back the last leased aircraft.

Because of financial problems, Indochina Airlines could not pay for air petrol to Skypec, which was then named Vinapco. 

In late 2010, Vinapco sued Indochina Airlines in the Hanoi Economics Court. The air carrier also owed wages to its workers.

By 2011, Indochina Airlines owed VND60 billion to its partners, including VND25 billion worth of air petrol. In December 2011, the Ministry of Transport officially revoked the license of the airline.

Air Mekong

Air Mekong was granted a business license in October 2008 and provided the first commercial flights two years later in October 2010.

After two years of operation, Air Mekong operated eight air routes, linking key localities of HCM City , Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Con Dao, Da Lat, Buon Ma Thuot, Hai Phong and Vinh.

The special feature about Air Mekong was that it flew with a narrow-body Bombardier CRJ900 with fewer than 90 seats, mostly used for sea tours.

In March 2013, Air Mekong suspended flights because of financial difficulties, higher operation costs, and aircraft restructuring.

After one month of suspension, Air Mekong’s AOC (air operator certificate) expired. After one year, Air Mekong did not show that it would resume flights and could not meet requirements to maintain an air transport license. It was reported owing VND26 billion to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV).

In January 2015, Air Mekong's license was revoked.

Blue Sky

Blue Sky Aviation JSC (Blue Sky) was granted a license for general aviation business in June 2010.

At first, Blue Sky registered to operate on more than 20 domestic tourism routes. It planned to use many different kinds of aircraft such as helicopters, seaplanes and other flat-wing aircrafts.

However, after 10 years of licensing, Blue Sky could not obtain an AOC and did not make any move to fly.

In October 2020, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) canceled the business license for general aviation that the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) had granted to Blue Sky, because Blue Sky had no AOC and no operation activities.

Under the laws, the business license for general aviation is repealed if carriers cannot obtain an AOC within three years from the licensing date.