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Suspended Indochina Airlines to pay VND2 bil in ticket refunds
Local private carrier Indochina Airlines, which had its license revoked early this week, said it will refund 1,450 tickets worth nearly VND2 billion (US$108,000).
Passengers who bought tickets for flights between January 26 and March 23 have been contacted about their refunds, local news website VnExpress cited an Indochina representative as saying. As of Thursday, only 200 tickets had been refunded.
Indochina still carries debts totaling VND30 billion ($1.6 million) to service providers, VnExpress reported, citing the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam.
State-owned fuel supplier Vinapco said the private airline has not managed to clear unpaid bills of more than VND20 billion.
Vinapco Director Tran Huu Phuc said his company only wanted to give Indochina a chance to resume flights or else it would have filed a lawsuit against the airline.
Indochina, which opened its service in November 2008, had postponed its plan to resume flights several times since suspending service in November last year due to both technical and financial problems. The carrier missed its schedule to restart flights on January 20.
The Civil Aviation Administration said Monday it has revoked the license of Indochina Airlines as the private carrier was no longer capable of maintaining its service.
Vo Huy Cuong, Head of the administration’s Aviation Transport Department, told VnExpress that Indochina is still determined to resume operation and that’s why the authorities decided to revoke its service license only, allowing it to keep its business license and resume service later.
However, he said if Indochina fails to clear its debts, service providers have the right to start collection action in accordance with their contracts.
Indochina Chairman Ha Dung said in November last year that $20 million had been invested in the airline, ruling out closure.
Thanh Nien
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