Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam's domesticaviation market has been bouncing back, but many airlines are stillgrappling with difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, latent risks, andsoaring expenses, the Quan doi Nhan dan (People’s Army) daily reported.

After a period of stagnation due to thepandemic, the number of passengers on domestic air routes has reboundedstrongly.

In 2022, air transport served about55 million passengers, surging 3.7-fold from 2021 and equivalent to 69.6% ofthat before the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019. The number of air passengersincreased almost 92% year on year in the first two months of 2023.

However,the recovery is uneven among the segments. Cargo transport is rebounding fast andenjoying growth compared to 2019 while passenger transport is recovering at aslower pace and mainly in the domestic market, according to the VietnamAviation Business Association.

Despite certain growth in thetransportation volume, the revenue of Vietnamese airlines hasn’t increasedaccordingly or even declined as a result of discounts to stimulate demand andrising fuel prices and other input costs.

In contrastto the strong recovery of some enterprises running infrastructure facilitiesand providing services, many airlines and other service suppliers are stillstruggling with difficulties as they have to deal with adverse impacts emergingduring the pandemic.

Witnessing a fall inrevenue, most aviation firms have had to scale down operations, and some even hadto sell part of their fleet, said Bui Doan Ne, Vice Chairman and SecretaryGeneral of the Vietnam Aviation Business Association.

Authorities haveassisted aviation enterprises via different support programmes and packages,but these supports haven’t been interconnected to generate commoneffects for the entire sector or groups of businesses, he pointed out.

Therefore, it isnecessary to make a comprehensive review of effects of the State’s policies onthe sector, continue perfecting policies, and develop manpower training centresin Vietnam to address shortages and reduce dependence on othercountries, Ne added.

He recommended theState devise policies for attracting more private investment and public -private partnerships to help diversify and upgrade aviation infrastructure, promotenegotiations with the potential markets that Vietnam hasn’t fully tapped into,and hold more promotion activities to help the aviation and tourism sectorsattract international passengers and investors.

The Civil AviationAuthority of Vietnam have forecast the domestic aviation market will fully recover bythe end of 2023 and post fast growth compared to 2019. The international marketis also bouncing back gradually and will near the 2019 level by the end of thisyear.

Economist Can VanLuc held that although air travel demand is predicted tosustain the upward trend in 2023, the growth may slow down.

Due to financialdifficulties, risks posed by the international situation, the slow recovery ofinternational tourism, and high fuel prices and interest rates, it is necessaryto maintain the land rent reduction policy, extend tax payment deadlines, andcut down fees of some services at airports like in 2022, he suggested./.