Located in an advantageous geographical position but with poor infrastructure, Vietnam remains uncompetitive in air cargo transport with Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

Vietnam is seen as a potential aviation market with increasingly high travel demand. However, Vietnam Airlines has reported an accumulated loss of VND34 trillion. In the past, many airlines had to leave the market, and some of them never launched.

The Ministry of Transport has issued a document on reviewing and amending circulars related to air transport, specifying the obligations of air carriers towards passengers in cases of cancellations and delays.

Local airlines may refuse to accept smart carry-on bags that are equipped with lithium-ion batteries unless they meet international aviation safety standards.

Several ultra wealthy Vietnamese businessmen in the past publicly announced that they had purchased private helicopters. But currently, no individual in Vietnam owns a private helicopter.

A conference was held in Hanoi on July 14 to announce the Master Planning on airport development in the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2050, which shows that Vietnam will have 33 airports in the next two or three decades.

The investment is estimated at about VNĐ420 trillion (US$18 billion), mobilised from the State budget, non-budget capital and other legal capital sources.

Twelve airport projects have been included on the list of projects to be developed with diverse capital sources. The state needs to offer attractive incentives to lure investors as these are not high-profit making ventures.

Experts believe investors would be willing to build small, specialized airports with airstrips 1.8 kilometers long or lower and with investment of no more than VND500 billion.

The National Assembly has approved maintaining airfare price ceilings in the revised Pricing Law, which was passed yesterday, June 19.

The Ministry of Transport is scheduled to build two new air terminals in central Vietnam from now till 2030, the ministry said in its transport development plan for the north-central and central coastal region till 2030 with a vision for 2045.

Bamboo Airways, the second private air carrier in Vietnam, has reported a net loss of VND17.6 trillion for 2022. Its stockholder equity has fallen to minus (-) VND835 billion.

The Civil Aviation Authority of VN (CAAV) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) organised a workshop on monitoring CO2 emissions and measures to reduce emissions from civil aviation activities.

Flights between Nanki Shirahama airport in Japan’s southeastern prefecture of Wakayama and Hanoi and Da Nang city of Vietnam are expected to be launched next month, Wakayama’s authorities said on June 13.

By 2030, Vietnam will be home to 14 international airports and 16 domestic ones, according to a recently-issued master plan on development of the national system of airports and aerodromes in the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050.

Air ticket prices for domestic flights to famous tourism destinations such as Da Nang and Nha Trang with departure from mid-June, especially on weekends, have begun increasing.

Vietnamese airlines have announced plans to open more international air routes this summer.

The Ministry of Transport has assigned its relevant agencies to look into a recent proposal by Hanoi City to make its second airport an international one.

Removing the domestic airfare cap will do any good to passengers and take away the Government’s tool to manage aviation services, said the Government.

The National Citizen Joint Stock Commercial Bank (NVB) plans to sell 203 million shares of Bamboo Airways, equivalent to 11 per cent of the airline's current capital.