Bankrupt Indochina Air faces shutdown

Vietnam’s financially troubled Indochina Airlines Joint-Stock Co is facing a shutdown, a government official said Monday, as its creditors seek the whereabouts of the airline’s founder.

Ha Dung, a popular music composer who founded Indochina Airlines, “has disappeared,” according to media reports.
“Many creditors have tried to find Dung, but they failed,” a local media reported.

“We are likely to withdraw its business license sometime this week or next week because in fact it has become nearly bankrupt,” Pham Quy Tieu, deputy minister of transport, said.
“It cannot pay any debt now,” Tieu said. “Withdrawing the business license means a death registration for Indochina Airlines.”

The firm has been grounded for more than a year by debts totaling millions of dollars.

The government had granted Indochina Airlines a license in May 2008. The airline began serving domestic routes six months later with leased airplanes, in competition with the state-run Vietnam Airlines Corp, but operated for less than a year.

The carrier owes 24 billion dong (more than 1.2 million dollars) to Vietnam Air Petrol, and lesser amounts to other creditors, according to reports. – DPA

Tags: Indochina Air