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.

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Airports need to expand to ease congestion

Photo: AFP

Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City is to be expanded to have space for ten extra airplanes and Hanoi's Noi Bai also has plans to add more parking space for aircraft to meet an explosive demand for air travel.

According to the Southern Airports Corporation, the agency has submitted their plans to increase the capacity of Tan Son Nhat Airport to the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV).

Nguyen Nguyen Hung, the General Director of the Southern Airports Corporation, says that the current parking space for planes at Tan Son Nhat Airport is just enough to serve 20 million passengers a year, or 54,800 passengers a day. However during the traditional Tet holidays, Tan Son Nhat Airport has to receive up to and over 58,000 passengers a day.

Under the new plan, Tan Son Nhat’s present 42 parking bays will be increased to 52.

Meanwhile, Noi Bai airport now has 24 parking bays, receiving nearly 90 flights a day. Nevertheless, sometimes the airport becomes so overloaded that aircraft must queue up to take off or land, which leads to flight delays or even cancel.

However, those plans are only a temporary solution while waiting for the construction of Long Thanh Airport in the southern province of Dong Nai. The project is expected to begin in 2011 and its first phase is expected to be completed by 2015.

Over the next few years, the national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific Airlines plan to increase their fleets to over 100 aircraft. These companies and hundreds of other overseas airlines face major problems with the country’s aviation sector.

Moreover, two private airlines, Air Mekong and Blue Sky, are also about to join the domestic air market.

In 2009, Vietnam’s airports handled over 26 million passengers and 445,800 tonnes of cargo, four times more than in 2000.

In the first seven months of this year, the number of passengers travelling by air was up by 33 percent over last year to 12 million, and the number of air passengers is forecast to increase by 35-40 percent this year alone.

Lai Xuan Thanh, the Deputy Head of CAAV said that his agency is working with carriers to formulate five- and ten-year development strategies to install extra aircraft bays.

Forty-five domestic and foreign airlines are currently operating up their 55 international air routes to and from Vietnam .

In the domestic market, Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific are servicing 40 routes in the country.

 

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Airports need to expand to ease congestion

Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City is to be expanded to have
space for ten extra airplanes and Hanoi ’s Noi Bai also has plans to
add more parking space for aircraft to meet an explosive demand for air
travel.

According to the Southern Airports Corporation, the
agency has submitted their plans to increase the capacity of Tan Son
Nhat Airport to the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam
(CAAV).

Nguyen Nguyen Hung, the General Director of the
Southern Airports Corporation, says that the current parking space for
planes at Tan Son Nhat Airport is just enough to serve 20
million passengers a year, or 54,800 passengers a day. However during
the traditional Tet holidays, Tan Son Nhat Airport has to
receive up to and over 58,000 passengers a day.

Under the new plan, Tan Son Nhat’s present 42 parking bays will be increased to 52.

Meanwhile,
Noi Bai airport now has 24 parking bays, receiving nearly 90 flights a
day. Nevertheless, sometimes the airport becomes so overloaded that
aircraft must queue up to take off or land, which leads to flight delays
or even cancel.

However, those plans are only a
temporary solution while waiting for the construction of Long Thanh
Airport in the southern province of Dong Nai . The project is
expected to begin in 2011 and its first phase is expected to be
completed by 2015.

Over the next few years, the national flag
carrier, Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific Airlines plan to increase
their fleets to over 100 aircraft. These companies and hundreds of other
overseas airlines face major problems with the country’s aviation
sector. Moreover, two private airlines, Air Mekong and Blue Sky, are
also about to join the domestic air market.

In 2009, Vietnam
’s airports handled over 26 million passengers and 445,800 tonnes of
cargo, four times more than in 2000.

In the first seven
months of this year, the number of passengers travelling by air was up
by 33 percent over last year to 12 million, and the number of air
passengers is forecast to increase by 35-40 percent this year alone.

Lai Xuan Thanh, the Deputy Head of CAAV said that his agency is
working with carriers to formulate five- and ten-year development
strategies to install extra aircraft bays.

Forty-five
domestic and foreign airlines are currently operating up their 55
international air routes to and from Vietnam .

In the domestic market, Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific are servicing 40 routes in the country./.

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