VietNamNet Bridge – It is expected that Vietjet Air would kick off the first international air route by the end of the year. Other private airlines are also making hectic preparations to provide long haul international flights.

Three private airlines were established in the two consecutive years 2007 and 2008. After cementing their firm positions on the domestic market, the private air carriers think of reaching to the world market, now preparing necessary conditions to open international air routes.

Getting ready to fly internationally

VietJet Air, when seeking the permission from the watchdog agency to set up a private airline, registered the legal capital at 500 billion dong, the sum of capital an airline must have to provide international flights.

In the first phase of operation, the air carrier has been providing the flights from Hanoi and HCM City to Da Nang, Nha Trang. It is considering opening other routes to Da Lat and Hai Phong soon.

VietJet Air strives to provide 5000 domestic flights, carry 700,000-800,000 passengers with the fleet of 5-6 A320s right in the first year of operation.

After six months of joining the domestic market, VietJet Air now thinks of kicking off international air routes. The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), VietJet Air was granted the right to develop the Hanoi/HCM City – Bangkok in 2011 already.

However, VietJet Air has changed its plan. The airline’s Managing Director Luu Duc Khanh, said the latest market survey showed that the air route has been in great animation, but it has become too familiar. Therefore, VietJet Air is considering the possibility of opening the air routes to South Korea and Japan. These are the markets with great potentials which are within the reach of VietJet Air.

Khanh has revealed that VietJet Air would kick off the first international air route with long haul flights and no business class seats.

Declining to reveal detailed plans, Doan Quoc Viet, President of Air Mekong has stated that joining more deeply into the domestic and international markets is the key task of Air Mekong in the next years.

Established in 2008, Air Mekong has the legal capital of 200 billion dong, which is only enough for providing flights on the domestic market. However, in June 2012, the air carrier successfully raised the capital to 600 billion dong by signing a strategic cooperation agreement with Eximbank, under which the new investor would contribute 11 percent of the chartered capital to the airline. 600 billion dong is enough for an airline to fly internationally.

A cutthroat competition

Experts believe that Vietnam’s airlines have the capability to exploit nearby markets, but they would face very fierce competitions here. The “hottest” air routes are the ones to Singapore and Bangkok which have been developed by nearly all the big guys.

The Hanoi/HCM City – Singapore air routes have been witnessing the presence of Singapore Airline, Tiger Airways, Jetstar Asia, Lion Air and Silk Air. Meanwhile, the routes to Bangkok have been developed by Thai Airways, Thai AirAsia, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and Tunisia Airlines already.

Though the passenger sources are profuse, experts believe that it would be a difficult task to cement positions on the routes. A lot of air carriers had to quit the routes to Bangkok because they consecutively incurred loss.

Meanwhile, far markets prove to be unreachable for Vietnam’s airlines.

To date, Vietnam has signed bilateral aviation agreements with 56 countries and territories, which means that the markets have been opened for Vietnamese airlines. However, whether they can develop the air routes would still depend on their capability.

Source: NLD