Air Mekong launching service in Vietnam with SkyWest CRJ 900s

Vietnam’s Air Mekong, 30-percent owned by U.S. regional airline SkyWest, plans to launch domestic services on October 9 using four 86-seat Bombardier CRJ900s subleased from the St. George, Utah-based regional.

ietnam’s Air Mekong, 30-percent owned by U.S. regional airline SkyWest, plans to launch domestic services on October 9 using four 86-seat Bombardier CRJ900s subleased from the St. George, Utah-based regional.

The new airline, aided with a $7 million investment by SkyWest and staffed with several pilots recruited from SkyWest subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines, will fly to eight destinations, including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Phu Quoc, according to SkyWest vice president of finance and treasurer Mike Kraupp.

Early next month it plans to add to two more destinations to a schedule expected to cover between 28 and 30 flights a day.

Apart from SkyWest’s stake, the capital base of privately held Air Mekong consists of investments from Vietnamese businesses and individuals, said Kraupp.

SkyWest has sought opportunities outside the U.S. ever since it invested $5 million in Brazil’s Trip Airlines in 2008. Six months later it invested another $15 million, and during the first quarter of this year it invested another $10 million in the airline, bringing its total ownership stake to 20 percent–the most it is permitted to own under Brazilian law. Trip Airlines flies ATR turboprops and Embraer E175 jets.

Tags: Air Mekong, Vietnam aviation, Vietnam aviation industry, Vietnam aviation market