Aviation sector to grow by 15pct

Viet Nam’s aviation industry this year will grow by roughly 15 per cent over the last year, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of Viet Nam (CAAV).

Previously, CAAV anticipated that the industry’s growth would be roughly more than 8 per cent this year.

Head of the CAAV’s aviation transport division Vo Huy Cuong said that it had readjusted its forecast because a rebound in the global economy had been spotted.

Domestic and foreign airlines have so far also planned to increase flights to foreign markets.

With this year’s plans to receive an additional 16 new aircrafts, Vietnam Airlines is planning to transport 11 million passengers, which is up 18 per cent from the same period last year.

After officially opening its overseas representative office in France, the airline has also planned to add nine new flights from Viet Nam to Japan.

Vietnam Airlines also launched a direct route from Ha Noi to Yangon on Tuesday.

Jetstar Air Asia has also decided to increase its daily flights from eight to 14 on its Singapore–HCM City route starting in July.

Cuong said that the domestic aviation market had been prospering since early this year after stagnating last year. The demand for domestic flights also remained high, Cuong said.

Last year, the aviation industry grew by 8.4 per cent over the previous year. The small increase was due to a decrease in foreign arrivals to the country in the wake of the global economic recession.

Despite the single-digit growth in passenger number and cargo volume, the performance of Viet Nam’s aviation market remains encouraging. Last year, global airline companies had to cope with weak air travel demand, as a result of the global downturn and the H1N1 flu pandemic.

International media quoted the Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines as saying that air travel in this region fell 5.7 per cent in 2009, as its 17 member airlines flew 132.9 million passengers compared with the 140 million in 2008.

Tags: Vietnam air, Vietnam air industry, Vietnam aviation, Vietnam aviation sector