Indochina Airlines’ chief may have to appear in court

General Director of Indochina Airlines Ha Hung Dung, who is also well known in Vietnam as a musician, may have to appear in court, since booking agents are considering suing leaders of Indochina Airlines, because the air carrier is still owing nearly one billion dong to them.

Feeling worried about the quietness of Ha Hung Dung, General Director of Indochina Airlines which has halted operation for nearly two years, a lot of booking agents in Hanoi came to see lawyers on October 13 to seek legal consultancy.

Disappears on aviation market, appears on showbiz

The document sent by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) to Indochina Airlines has been returned to the sender, because there was no receiver. The express service provider said the address that Indochina Airlines registered for its head office does not exist any more, and that no one received the documents sent to the address.

As such, Ha Dung, who registered as the General Director of Indochina Airlines, has appeared on the aviation market for the last two years. Indochina Airlines nowadays is the air carrier with no aircraft, no office, no staff and no commercial flight.

An official of CAAV said on October 12 that he himself called Ha Hung Dung on Dung’s mobile phone to talk with Dung about Indochina Airlines’ debts. However, no one answered the call.

The noteworthy thing is that while Dung has “disappeared” on the aviation market, he still continues joining artistic performances as a musician. In late August 2010, he unexpectedly appeared at the new album launching ceremony of the well known singer Ho Quynh Huong. Dung was also present at some other artistic shows in September. The people close to Dung all said Dung is still living in Vietnam.

Indochina Airlines’ General Director faces a lawsuit?

Air ticket booking agents said they feel worried when hearing that even CAAV can not contact General Director Ha Hung Dung. The owner of a booking agent said booking agents plan to gather to lodge a complaint to the police and they are seeking legal advices from lawyers to consider whether to sue Dung. The booking agents will also send a document to the Ministry of Transport, the agency that manages the aviation market, suggesting the measures to deal with the debts incurred by Indochina Airlines.

In mid September, 35 booking agents lodged a complaint to CAAV and Hanoi’s Economic Arbitration Board about the 800 million dong debts incurred by Indochina Airlines. The booking agents requested Indochina Airlines to terminate contracts soon and pay all the money the carrier is owing to booking agents.

In the document, booking agents requested relevant agencies to make intervention to settle the case soon. In fact, the total debts incurred by Indochina Airlines have reached 30 billion dong. Of this amount, the air carrier is owing 21 billion dong to Vinapco, the fuel provider.

Booking agents believe that Ha Hung Dung, who registered himself as the General Director of Indochina Airlines, must take responsibility for paying debts.- VnExpress

Tags: Indochina Airlines, Vietnam aviation, Vietnam aviation industry, Vietnam aviation market