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Airline slashes expenses by $23.8 million
Vietnam Airlines has already reduced costs this year by VND400 billion (US$23.8 million ) in response to Government calls for thrift, said Trinh Ngoc Thanh, a spokesman for the national flag carrier.
The airline’s affiliates have focused particularly on reducing petrol, improving equipment efficiency and suspending non-essential investment projects.
In terms of fuel, the company carefully researched market demand so as to restructure both international and domestic flight routes. The efforts saved the company more than 3,000 tonnes of fuel, or around VND90 billion ($5.4 million).
In the first half of this year, Vietnam Airlines (VNA) was responsible for more than 29,700 flights, transporting almost 4.5 million passengers. This was a 15 per cent increase over the same period last year and accounted for around half of the annual target. The carrier also transported more than 63,500 tonnes of cargo in the period, meeting half of that annual target as well.
The corporation said that soaring fuel prices in the January-June period caused significant losses. It estimated it had spent an additional VND1.4 trillion ($83.3 million) on fuel for that period. Fuel prices have risen about 80 per cent so far this year and fuel now accounts for 55-60 per cent of the total cost of flights.
With crude oil prices reaching $140 per barrel in June alone, Vietnam Airlines estimated it had to pay up to $124.9 for a barrel of A1 jet fuel, the fuel used for most civilian aircraft. The price was 38 per cent higher than the carrier’s planned prices.
VNS
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