Vietnam to Launch Third Airline Next Year
Vietnam Airlines is working on a project to transform a service company into an independent carrier, Vietnam’s third.
The Vietnam Aviation Service Company Ltd. (VASCO) was expected to begin operations in January 2006, deputy head of Vietnam Airlines’ Enterprise Reform Department, Tran Dinh Hung, said.
Once approved by the government, VASCO would take wings internationally rather than domestically, he said.
Besides the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, the second air carrier in Vietnam is the recovering Pacific Airlines, which has received approval to sell a 30% stake to Temasek Holdings Pte., a state-owned Singapore investment company.
VASCO now operates flights from HCM City to the tourist islands of Con Dao and the southernmost province of Ca Mau. So far this year, it has carried over 10,000 passengers and earned revenues of VND63 billion.
The project was part of a Vietnam Airlines move to restructure enterprises, Hung said.
The flag carrier had equitized five of its enterprises and recently received approval from the Minister of Transport and Communications to turn five others into joint-stock companies, he added.
Service companies in the nation's two largest international airports – Noi Bai in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat in HCM City – are also set for equitization and are expected to get the landmark decision from the government by October.
The Aviation Oil and Gas Company expected to become a limited liability company within this year while a project to set up an aircraft technology company was also planned, Hung said.
(Source: VNA)
Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 07 October, 2005, 13:52:55 (GMT+7)
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