Vietnam airports to cut fees by half to attract foreign carriers

Five international airports in Vietnam are set to cut landing fees and ground handling costs by half to attract foreign airlines, Thoi bao Kinh te Sai Gon (Saigon Times) Online reported Tuesday.

This is expected to benefit Phu Bai near Hue, Cam Ranh near Nha Trang, Lien Khuong in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, Can Tho, and Phu Quoc.

The discounts are likely to be offered for three years, the newspaper quoted Vo Huy Cuong, deputy chief of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), as saying at a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City.

Besides, international airlines will be allowed to fly into all Vietnamese airports, except Hanoi, Da Nang, and HCMC, without restrictions, according to the report.

Lai Xuan Thanh, head of the CAAV, told the newspaper that among the five airports, only Cam Ranh and Can Tho have international flights, with Russian and South Korean carriers flying to the former, and Taiwanese carriers to the latter.

Airlines do not want to fly to these destinations because ground services there fail to meet their requirements, Thanh said.


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But he promised they would be improved, as would tourism services. Once the two sectors do well, the five airports would see an increase in the number of passengers, he said.



Three domestic airlines and 51 foreign ones currently fly on international routes from and to Vietnam, which has 21 airports.

Category: BUSINESS