Cathay Pacific Takes Long-term View

The newly appointed Country Manager of Cathay Pacific in Vietnam, Ms Cindy Lam expressed her strong optimism about the air travel potential of Vietnam, albeit the global economic downturn, saying that Vietnam is one of the best performing economies in Asia, and she is confident about Vietnam’s economic turnaround.

Like many other sectors, the aviation industry also feels the pain and there has been an obvious slowdown in air travel demand in Vietnam. “It is a global crisis that requires us to adjust our immediate strategies to cope with market changes, keep a close eye on the structural or fundamental transformation in customer behavior, and ensure that we react quickly and are prepared for the recovery”, said Cindy Lam. In fact, Cathay Pacific is rolling out their first ever credit card promotion in co-operation with a local bank, whereby all card holders can enjoy exclusive fares on Cathay Pacific and Dragonair when they purchase online. Though offering competitive fares, Cathay Pacific is determined to maintain its premium product and service.

“Our logic is that we must keep giving reasons for our customers to keep coming back, and that we need to do everything we can to keep up with or ahead of the competition. We see a clear need to preserve our greatest assets (our network, our people, our superior service) because they are what will help us compete when the rebound comes”, said Cindy Lam.

Although the business environment is changing, Cathay Pacific still keeps its three daily flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong, connecting to the other 113 destinations in 36 countries in its network. “We have long noted the prospects of Vietnam.

We appreciate the Civil Aviation Authority’s support in the past years to realize Cathay’s operation in Vietnam. We can also see the priority that the Vietnamese Government has given to the aviation industry, and benefit from the continuous effort done to upgrade the air transport infrastructure. Cathay Pacific is keen to continue facilitating both travel and cargo transport in and out of Vietnam, and grow together with the country”, said Cindy Lam.

Cathay Pacific – Hong Kong’s biggest airline entered Vietnamese aviation industry as a joint venture with Vietnam Airlines in 1991. It started operating Cathay aircraft to HCMC since July 2005, and Dragonair aircraft to Hanoi since October 2008. Its fleet comprises of over 120 wide-body aircrafts – one of the youngest and most modern in the skies. Cathay Pacific was named Airline of the Year 2009 by Skytrax.

Posted by VBN on Nov 10 2009. Filed under Enterprises. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry