VietNam Business: domestic international

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Jan-Sept aviation market growth put at 20%

Passengers wait for reclaiming their luggage at Noi Bai Airport. Vietnam’s aviation market is poised to post strong growth in 2010 as more people travel by air in the country - Photo: Mong Binh

HCMC – The country’s civil aviation market registered strong growth in the first nine months of the year, with both passenger and cargo segments picking up over 20% year-on-year, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV).

CAAV’s preliminary figures about the market released on Tuesday indicate more than 15 million passengers went through Vietnam’s airports in the period, up more than 20% from a year ago.

Of the number, Vietnamese carriers were responsible for more than 11 million, up 24% year-on-year. The number of passengers on domestic and international flights of the flagship carrier Vietnam Airlines exceeded nine million, up by a whopping 34% compared to the first nine months of last year.

Jetstar Pacific still took small domestic market share, transporting some 1.5 million passengers in the first three quarters. This low-cost carrier has only 40 daily flights while the number of Vietnam Airlines domestic and international services is more than 290.

The strong expansion of Vietnam’s overall aviation market in the period was credited to Vietnam Airlines’ aggressive launch of new domestic and international air routes and its increase of flight frequencies.

In the period, Vietnam Airlines started to fly on HCMC-Danang-Dalat and HCMC-Can Tho-Phu Quoc runs, and from Hanoi to Vinh and Chu Lai in central Vietnam. On the international front, the airline began services from Hanoi to Japan’s Osaka, China’s Shanghai and Myanmar’s Yangon among others.

The more promotional air tickets offered by the two local players, Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific, stimulated demand for air travel in January-September. Growth in international arrivals also backed the aviation market.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Vietnam (VNAT), international visitors to Vietnam in the first three quarters jumped 34.2% year-on-year to 3.73 million. Air travelers to the country numbered nearly three million, up 32.7% over the same period last year.

As for the cargo segment, CAAV said domestic and foreign carriers transported 340,000 tons from January till September, a significant year-on-year increase of more than 36%.

The nation’s aviation market is expected to gain faster growth in the fourth quarter, as private airline Air Mekong entered the market on October 9 and the fact that more foreign airlines will launch their services to and from Vietnam.

CAAV has permitted Turkish Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines to fly to Vietnam later this year while Qatar Airways is gearing up for new flights to Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi and more services to Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC.

Air Mekong operates eight routes using four Bombardier jets and will increase the number to 10 in November this year with around 34 daily flights to the airports in Hanoi, HCMC, Danang, Con Dao, Pleiku, Buon Ma Thuot and Phu Quoc.

Vietnam Airlines is targeting 12 million passengers for its domestic and international flights this year compared to just over 9.34 million last year.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Telecoms market to be opened up further

Photo: Reuters

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Le Nam Thang has pledged a number of policies to encourage investors in the telecommunications sector, both domestic and international.

Thang told a forum on telecoms in Hanoi on Tuesday that the government would continue with policies to open up the domestic market and speed up global integration, including in the telecoms industry.

“The telecom sector has managed to record impressive growth in recent years and narrow the gap with developed countries, which has benefited economic growth and improved the people’s standard of living,” said the official.

The forum drew over 150 participants from domestic and international telecoms businesses, research institutions and consultancy companies.

Nitin Bhat from the company Frost & Sullivan, a global leading consultant in IT and communications, has evaluated Vietnam as a major market, with a constantly high growth rate.

He also forecast a slow-down in growth in the immediate future and urged more investment in the country’s infrastructure as well as market surveys to meet market demands, citing it as a guarantee for business success.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) also sees Vietnam as a rapidly growing market.

By the end of August this year, the nation has had over 156 million telephone users, over 90 percent of whom are mobile phone subscribers.

Compared with 2005, the density of telephones has increased 2.2 times, Internet subscriptions by 16 times and international connections by 28.2 times.

The telecoms industry’s revenue in 2009 reached US$6.8 billion, a growth of 2.5 times that of 2006.

VietNam Business