Domestic air transport sees fast recovery, airlines suffer loss due to rising fuel prices

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi – Vietnamese airlines are suffering losses amounting to hundreds of billions of VND each month due to a surge in fuel prices, according to director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) Dinh Viet Thang.

At a conference of the Transport Ministry reviewing its work in the first half of the year on June 28, Thang said as fuel costs account for 40-50% of operation costs, revenues increases are not sufficient to compensate for high fuel prices.

He said domestic aviation transport has fully recovered with higher growth than in the pre-pandemic period. However, Vietnamese carriers have not fully escaped difficulties due to the slow recovery of the international market.

It was reported at the conference that in the first half of the year, the number of international air passengers has increased monthly, from 103,500 in January to 127,000 in February, 224,600 in March, 445,700 in April, 650,000 in May and an estimated 826,000 in June.

As of the end of June, more than 30 foreign and four Vietnamese airlines are operating 96 international routes between Vietnam and 21 countries and territories. Vietnamese carriers are operating 68 international routes to 16 countries and territories.

In the domestic market, six Vietnamese carriers are operating 55-60 routes connecting Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City with 19 local airports. The lifting of pandemic-related restrictions, along with booming demand, has brought about a fast recovery of domestic aviation transport, with the number of domestic passengers growing from 10-15% each month in the second quarter.

The total throughput of Vietnamese airports in the first half reached 43.35 passengers, up 65.5% from the same period in 2021 but still down 24.6% from the first half of 2019, with domestic passenger volume up 10.5% and international passenger volume down 88.3%.

The number of air passengers going through Vietnamese airports is expected to reach 70-80 million this year, including 8-10 million international travellers.