Vietnam makes airports competitive

HO CHI MINH CITY, 17 September 2013: Five international airports in Vietnam will cut landing fees and ground handling costs by half to attract foreign airlines.

The strategy is in place to convince regional airlines to add more services to Vietnam, but in the long-run if fees were cut at  Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the two airports would begin to compete with Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur for international airline business.

Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam chief, Vo Huy Cuong, said the discounts will be in place for just three years.

Airports that should benefit are Phu Bai near Hue, Cam Ranh near Nha Trang, Lien Khuong in the central highlands province of Lam Dong, Can Tho, and Phu Quoc.

International airlines will be allowed to fly to all Vietnamese airports, except Hanoi, Danang, and HCMC, without restrictions, according to local media reports.

The CAAV head, Lai Xuan Thanh, said that among the five airports, only Cam Ranh and Can Tho have international flights, with Russian and South Korean carriers flying to the former and Taiwanese carriers to the latter.

“Airlines do not want to fly to these destinations because ground services are not up to standard…They will need to be improved first.”

But he promised they would along with support services in tourism.

Three domestic airlines and 51 foreign airlines currently fly to Vietnam. The country has 21 airports.

Source : Ttrweekly