Vietnam Airlines targets over 1.6 bln USD in revenue this year

Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)

Hanoi– Facing the complicated COVID-19 situation, Vietnam Airlines said it has built a feasible business plan with a view to earning 37.364 trillion VND (over 1.6 billion USD) in consolidated revenue this year, equivalent to 88.4 percent of the 2020 figure.

To that end, the national flag carrier will focus on maintaining flight safety, ensuring safety from COVID-19, conducting comprehensive restructuring, and boosting digital transformation, General Director Le Hong Ha told the annual shareholders’ meeting this week.

It will push ahead with measures to raise revenue and cut down costs, restructure its investment in non-core sectors, streamline the apparatus, and improve service quality. By taking such actions, it expects to save more than 6.8 trillion VND in 2021.

Vietnam Airlines is also planning to sell six old ATR-72s and replace them with jet aircraft so as to improve its competitiveness in niche markets or the airports unable to handle such planes as Airbus A320s and A321s, he noted.

Despite huge impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the firm transported 14.13 million passengers and 195,300 tonnes of cargo in 2020, approximating the set targets. Its on-time performance stood at 90 percent.

Last year’s revenue and profit were better than forecast. The consolidated revenue and the parent company’s revenue were respectively posted at 42.276 trillion VND and 33.266 trillion VND, 4.2 percent and 2.2 percent higher than expected.

Meanwhile, the consolidated losses and the parent firm’s losses were lower than forecast, equivalent to 72.2 percent and 60.4 percent of the planned figures, the carrier reported.

Chairman Dang Ngoc Hoa said despite the pandemic's impacts, Vietnam Airlines has tapped into every opportunity to raise revenue such as by increasing flights to transport cargo, repatriate overseas Vietnamese, and carry foreign experts to the country, and opening over 20 domestic routes to seize chances created by the domestic market’s quick recovery.

Its efforts, together with assistance from the Government and relevant agencies, have helped Vietnam Airlines reduce losses by nearly 5.8 trillion VND last year, Hoa added.