As many foreign budget airlines ask for permission to open routes to Vietnam, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Tien Sam said that the Ministry wants to encourage such services. 

According to Mr Sam, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam will grant licences to budget carriers, providing that when they register, airports are not overloaded. 

“The cheaper the airfares, the more satisfied we are. At airports that need financial assistance, the Ministry will allow exemption or reduction of service fees, for example service fees have been cut by 50% at Da Nang Airport,” he added. 

The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam is worried that Vietnam Airlines’ current market share will decrease as budget airlines arrive in Vietnam. However, Mr Sam said that it is difficult to stop such carriers from operating in Vietnam because the country has signed bilateral aviation agreements with other countries. Accordingly, the airlines appointed by partner governments that meet requirements will be licenced to open routes to Vietnam. So far, Singapore’s Tiger Airways and Thailand’s Thai Air Asia have been granted licences and Tiger Airways has been allowed to increase the number of flights from three to seven per week. 

According to Mr Sam, many more budget carriers will come to Vietnam in the near future. However, he warns that passengers should be careful when choosing flights because low costs can result in a poorer service.  

General Director of Thai Air Asia, Tassapon Bijleveld, said that to cut costs, they doesn’t serve meals or provide lounges and bus services to take passengers to the plane. This company also uses Boeing 737s for budget flights to keep the cost of pilots, training airhostesses and maintenance to a minimum. 

When using low-cost services, passengers cannot return tickets and have to pay a surcharge to change the flight time. In addition, children receive no discount on the reduced fares. 

“If the number of passengers is large, there will be a lower percentage of people travelling with low-cost tickets. We don’t fix the rate of cheap tickets at 30% for each flight as many people think,” Mr Tassapon Bijleveld said. 

Another issue is the safety of budget flights because the aircrafts are operating close to capacity. For example, Thai Air Asia planes are only on the tarmac for 25 minutes between flights.  

Mr Sam said that airlines coming to Vietnam must conform to international aviation safety laws and the aviation standards of their countries and of the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority. According to Mr Sam, both Thailand and Singapore, which offer low-cost services in Vietnam, apply strict aircraft quality standards. 

The appearance of budget flights has put pressure on established airlines. Vietnam Airlines recently announced a reduction from US$340 to $160 for Hanoi-Singapore-Hanoi flights between October 1 and November 30. Airfares for flights to the US, Australia, Japan and the Republic of Korea have also been cut.  

According to international rules, international airways are not allowed to offer domestic flights, providing the incentive for Vietnam to establish a budget airline for domestic flights. A scheme to set up Vietnam’s third carrier, VASCO Flight Service Company, has been completed. According to an official from Vietnam Airlines, VASCO’s major shareholder, the company will offer low-cost domestic and international flights.  

(Source: TBKTVN)