Vietstar Airlines has adjusted its plan and continued to ask the Government to grant an air transport business licence so that it can take off sooner.

In the latest document sent to the Government, Vietstar wants to reduce the number of aircraft it will have between 2017 and 2021 from 23 to 10. In detail, 5 of the planes will park at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City whilst the remaining 5 will park at the Da Nang International Airport in Da Nang.

Chairman of Vietstar Airlines’s member council Pham Trinh Phuong said the carrier now has 2 hangars able to store 5 A320/321 and B737 planes at Tan Son Nhat Airport. Therefore, the plan to operate 10 aircrafts is feasible.

He added the Vietstar Aero Engineering JSC, which belongs to the same group with Vietstar Airlines, also owns hangars capable of accommodating 5 aircrafts in case Tan Son Nhat lacks parking space.

Vietstar Airlines has also aligned its flight plan with the market demand and the capacity of airports in Viet Nam as requested by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), Phuong noted.

The latest adjustment is believed to be part of Vietstar’s efforts to remove barriers related to the overloading of the Tan Son Nhat Airport as well as Viet Nam’s aviation industry.  The overloading is also reported to be the main obstacle to the Government’s granting of an air transport business licence to Vietstar.

In the Prime Minister’s instruction sent to the Ministry of Transport in early April, the licence granting will be considered after the Tan Son Nhat Airport is expanded. Meanwhile, the expansion plan is still being developed and set to be approved no sooner than the second quarter of 2017.  It means the airline will have to wait at least 3 years before providing passenger and cargo services.

Vietstar Airlines, established in June 2016 with charter capital of 300 billion VND (13.2 million USD), is headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Binh District.

The CAAV confirmed that Vietstar Airlines met all requirements for a licence in terms of capital, airplanes and owner’s qualifications.

It plans to provide aviation services right in 2017 if the licence is granted, becoming the 5^th carrier in Viet Nam after Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific, Vietjet Air, and the Vietnam Air Services Company (Vasco).

(Source: VNA/ DA NANG Today)