Air Mekong, which begins suspending local services today, says it has yet to decide when to resume operation but still supports customers who have bought its tickets. Speaking with the Daily on Thursday, Truong Thanh Vu, director of sales and services of Air Mekong, said his airline has yet to fix the new operational schedule, adding specific information will be announced later. Similarly, an executive... 

The privately-held carrier Air Mekong has rejected a news report that it had delayed jet fuel payments for the country’s main supplier Vinapco. The Tuoi Tre report cited a source from Vinapco as saying that since the fourth quarter of last year, the fuel seller had eight times written to the airline requesting payments that had fallen due and exceeded the amount a bank had guaranteed. But Air... 

Vietnam’s aviation sector posted single-digit growth in terms of passenger number in the challenging year 2012 when macro-economic woes forced individual and corporate passengers to tighten their purse strings. The latest report of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) showed the country’s airports handled 25.3 million passengers on domestic and international flights, up 6.5% on... 

* Silk Air flies to Hanoi Air Mekong and Eximbank have clinched a strategic partnership deal that allows the bank to hold a 11% stake in the two-year-old private airline. The deal was signed by Air Mekong’s chairman Doan Quoc Viet and Eximbank’s vice chairman and general director Truong Van Phuoc in Hanoi on Wednesday. A representative of Air Mekong said the bank’s investment was part of the... 

Vietnam Financial Review (VFR) interviews Air Mekong’s Commercial Operations VP to get his take on Vietnam’s aviation industry. Vietnam’s airline industry has boomed in recent years, and will continue to do so over the medium term according to industry forecasts. Although the International Air Transport Association (IATA) suggests that the international air travel market may be on the decline... 

Vietnam Airlines will adjust up its fare ceilings next week, about 10 days after other local carriers publicized their highest economy-class rates for domestic flights in accordance with the Ministry of Finance’s recent decision. Like Jetstar Pacific and Air Mekong, Vietnam Airlines said different types of fares would be offered, including those fares equal to the ceilings as stated in the ministry’s... 

Private carrier Air Mekong on Thursday launched service between Hanoi and Phu Quoc and began its daily flight between HCMC and Con Dao to meet rising demand of leisure and business travelers in summer. Truong Thanh Vu of Air Mekong told the Daily on Thursday that the airline would fly daily on the new and longest domestic route until May 10 and then some four times a week before resuming the daily... 

Domestic air carriers are working hard to retain market share in the face of higher expenses, a fixed ticket-price system, lower prices, and more competitors. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, the number of passengers last year rose 20 per cent compared to 2009 as a result of lower prices and more air routes. Despite the higher income, airlines are still finding it difficult... 

Although Vietnam has been heading for an Open Sky for airlines in the region, domestic private carriers are still struggling to get off the ground. Five private airlines have been licensed since the first license was granted by the Vietnamese Government to a private airline in the country nearly four years ago. But only Air Mekong is operating its flights on domestic routes. The other four licensed... 

HCMC – Many foreign and domestic airlines are managing to cash in on the strong recovery of Vietnam’s aviation market after the 2008-2009 global financial meltdown by increasing their frequencies and opening air routes to the country. Recent statistics released by the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) showed a significant increase in the number of both international passenger...