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VietJet Air seeks to delay launch for 5th time
Private carrier VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Comapny has sought permission to delay for a fifth time commencement of operations.
VietJet Air, as the carrier is know, has asked the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) if it can start flying in October instead of August as scheduled since it “has to resolve several issues involving brand name, shares, and staff.”
It was originally scheduled to fly in late 2008 before being delayed successively in March and October last year and May this year and then August. It gave various reasons like increase in fuel prices, financial problems, and now this.
In December 2007 it became the first private airline to be licensed in Vietnam. It has a chartered capital of VND600 billion (US$32 million).
Last February Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia bought a 30 percent stake in VietJet Air to form no-frills airline VietJet AirAsia.
But the CAAV has since ordered VietJet Air to change the name since it does not indicate it is a Vietnamese airline.
A VietJet Air spokesperson told VnExpress that brand-name and logo experts are being hired and that is one of the main reasons for the delay.
State-owned Vietnam Airlines had lodged a petition asking the government to disallow AirAsia’s involvement in any form with VietJet, saying the joint venture would upset the stability of Vietnamese aviation market. But its demand was rejected.
Vietnam Airlines has a more than 80 percent share of the aviation market.
Vietnam Airlines, its subsidiary, Vietnam Air Services Company, and budget carrier Jetstar Pacific, are the three airlines currently operating domestic flights in the country.
Indochina Airlines, the first private carrier to begin operations, lost its traffic rights last January after accumulating debts of VND30 billion (US$1.6 million) and suspending services in late 2009.
The third private carrier, Mekong Air, was licensed in October 2008 but has yet to fly.
vietnews
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