Vietnam Airlines finds it difficult to request take-off and landing times abroad.

At the Ministry of Transport conference on the afternoon of July 10, Mr. Dang Ngoc Hoa said that after a period of stopping flights due to the epidemic, this company lost many flight slots in London (UK). India protects domestic aviation, so it only grants 28 international slots at 4 major airports, not granting more to foreign airlines. Recently, the company's leaders went to China to negotiate for slots at a number of airports but were unsuccessful.

Currently, Vietnam Airlines has basically restored its domestic and international flight network. Specifically, in the international market, the airline has operated 54 international routes with 28 destinations in 18 countries. In the domestic market, the airline has operated 45 routes to 21 destinations.

However, Mr. Dang Ngoc Hoa said that international aviation has only recovered 60% of the number of passengers before the Covid epidemic, while the number of Chinese passengers is only 9% compared to before the epidemic.

Airplane at Noi Bai airport

The number of international passengers is limited, the aviation industry is still facing difficulties due to high fuel prices compared to before the pandemic, at times, prices doubled compared to 2019. Fuel prices currently account for 50% of airfares.

Mr. Hoa proposed that the Ministry of Transport support airlines in negotiating to apply for flight slots abroad, control the number of aircraft of airlines to avoid oversupply, causing waste of resources as well as airport overload, and speed up the implementation of regulations on ceiling prices for domestic air tickets.

"Currently, flight costs are very high but ticket prices are very low. Summer airfares are the cheapest in the past 6 years, causing difficulties for airlines," said the Chairman of Vietnam Airlines.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang has requested the Civil Aviation Authority and the Department of International Relations to support Vietnam Airlines in applying for flight slots abroad, following the "reciprocity" approach in granting slots for international routes. If necessary, the Ministry of Transport will issue documents or establish a working group to negotiate and discuss directly with countries on granting slots for international routes.

In the first 6 months of 2023, the domestic air transport market recovered relatively well, exceeding about 8% compared to before the pandemic (2019). However, the international air transport market only recovered about 60%.

According to VnExpress