No new airline to be licensed until 2015: Report

The government will stop licensing new airlines until 2015 because of the country’s limited airport facilities and availability of skilled personnel, a local newspaper reported Thursday.

There are currently five airlines – state-owned Vietnam Airlines Corp., Jetstar Pacific Airlines Joint-Stock Aviation Co., Vietjet Aviation Joint-Stock Co., Indochina Airlines Joint-Stock Co., and Mekong Aviation Joint-Stock Co.

They have had to compete with each other for skilled personnel, the Sai Gon Giai Phong quoted Lai Xuan Thanh, Deputy General Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam as saying.

Many pilots working in Vietnam are foreigners and the country has no aviation school, Thanh said.

The combined fleets of the five carriers are expected to reach 149 aircraft in 2015 while Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai airports, where all Vietnamese aircraft are parked overnight, will only be able to accommodate 92 planes by that time, Thanh said.

thanhnien, bloomberg

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