Nov. 12 – Malaysia’s low cost carrier AirAsia has launched a new daily flight between Ho Chi Minh City and the famous Thai beach destination Phuket.
It is AirAsia’s first direct flight shuttling from Ho Chi Minh City and Phuket. This route would include a “mixture of leisure seekers and business travelers,” Thai AirAsia’s chief executive officer Tassapon Bijleveld said in a statement. Read the rest of this entry »
Oct. 29 – Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Administration will reduce landing and take-off fees for all international airlines by 5 percent until March 1, 2010 as a way of helping carriers deal with the global recession.
Vietnam’s international airports charge varying fees on airlines depending on the size of the plane with bigger planes charged more. International airlines firms told Thanh Nien News that while the fee itself were not huge it still supports airlines that fly regularly to the country, including AirAsia, Thai Airways, Malaysia Airlines and Cathay Pacific. Read the rest of this entry »
Oct. 16 – The Ministry of Transport has issued a license to the country’s first air cargo transport services to begin operations next year.
Trai Thien Air Cargo is the first company to solely offer air cargo services in Vietnam reports Thanh Nien News. The company will have a registered capital of VND500 billion and will use a Boeing 737-300F plane for its services. The company plans to expand to other Asian routes and buy four more new aircraft.
Sept. 9 – The direct flight route from China’s Hainan province to Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi will begin on September 27, running twice a week every Thursday and Sunday.
The route will use the 143-seat aircraft of Boeing 737 with tickets priced at US$117 for a one-way ticket cost and around US$220 for return according to Nhan Dan.
Jul. 27 – Vietnam has confirmed that it will invest a total of US$200 million for Cambodia’s airline and banking industry.
The national carrier, Cambodia Angkor Air, will be a joint venture between Vietnam and Cambodia. Vietnam has agreed to provide US$100 million that will be invested within 30 years.
“Vietnamese side has invested US$100 million capital in Cambodia Angkor air,” Sok An, deputy prime minister and minister in charge of the Council of Ministers, was quoted by Xinhua during the agreement’s signing ceremony overseen by Prime Minister Hun Senand visiting Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong.
Jun. 25 – According to a Vietnamese foreign investment official, foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country plunged by 77.4 percent to US$8.87 billion for the first 6 months of the year.
Figures compiled by the agency showed that only US$4.7 billion worth of new projects were licensed during the period, a 86.7 percent in value over the same period last year.
Another US$4.1 billion was poured into 68 operational projects, an increase of 13.8 percent. The agency head, Phan Huu Thang told Thanh Nien News added that the FDI result was still positive given the extent of the current economic slowdown.
Jun. 19 – The Phu Bai airport located in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue will be developed into an international airport beginning this year until 2020.
According to the plan submitted to the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Transport, the airport will have an area of 42,000 square meters, serving 4,000 passengers a day.
The upgrade is estimated to cost VND17,250 billion, with one third of that amount to be invested between this year and 2020.
Jun. 10 – The Vietnam Air Navigation Services Corporation (VANSCORP) was awarded the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Eagle Award for the Most Improved Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP) during the 65th IATA Annual General Meeting held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last Monday.
“VANSCORP has improved greatly in its 15-year history characterized by a strong culture of reliability, efficiency and customer orientation. In addition to maintaining strong relationships with its airline customers, VANSCORP also takes an active role in regional initiatives,” IATA’s Director General Giovanni Bisignani said in a press release.
The firm also upgraded to modern technology in compliance with the ICAO Roadmap for Air Traffic Communication, Navigation and Surveillance.
May 6 – Vietnam plans to establish ten international airports across the country through the expansion of existing facilities and the construction of new ones, according to a recent zoning plan released by government authorities in Ho Chi Minh City.
The plan, drawn up by Vietnam’s Ministry of Transportation, will include renovations and massive upgrades to Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport and Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport which will greatly increase their capacity for passengers and cargo.
By 2020, Noi Bai International Airport looks to be able to serve as many as 25 million passengers a year, up from its current annual level of seven million. The airport will also handle 260,000 tons of cargo and, with the addition of two new runways, will be able to facilitate the landing of large aircraft like the Boeing 747 and Airbus’ A380.
Apr. 28 – At the recommendation of health experts, Vietnam has established precautionary measures to protect itself from the spreading H1N1 strain of swine flu virus currently affecting people in Mexico and the Unites States.
The country’s disease-control agencies are on high alert and travelers entering the country are required to declare the current status of their health, according to the Deputy Minister of Health Trinh Quang Huan.
Head of Vietnam’s Preventative Health Bureau, Nguyen Huy Nga, has said that the swine flu virus has the potential to spread rapidly and appears to be an amalgamation of the bird flu virus, human influenza, and a virus typically found in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Vietnam’s Preventative Health Bureau met with pandemic health experts on Sunday to discuss emergency measures in an effort to prevent and prepare for a possible spread of the virus; which there is not yet a vaccination for.
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