Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese airlines are suffering losses amounting tohundreds of billions of VND each month due to a surge in fuel prices, accordingto director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) Dinh Viet Thang.

Ata conference of the Transport Ministry reviewing its work in the first half ofthe year on June 28, Thang said as fuel costs account for 40-50% of operationcosts, revenues increases are not sufficient to compensate for high fuelprices.

He said domestic aviation transport has fully recovered with highergrowth than in the pre-pandemic period. However, Vietnamese carriers have notfully escaped difficulties due to the slow recovery of the international market.

It was reported at the conference that in the first half ofthe year, the number of international air passengers has increased monthly,from 103,500 in January to 127,000 in February, 224,600 in March, 445,700 inApril, 650,000 in May and an estimated 826,000 in June.

As of the end of June, more than 30 foreign and four Vietnameseairlines are operating 96 international routes between Vietnam and 21 countriesand territories. Vietnamese carriers are operating 68 international routes to16 countries and territories.  

In the domestic market, six Vietnamese carriers are operating55-60 routes connecting Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City with 19 localairports. The lifting of pandemic-related restrictions, along with boomingdemand, has brought about a fast recovery of domestic aviation transport, withthe number of domestic passengers growing from 10-15% each month in the secondquarter.

The total throughput of Vietnamese airports in the first halfreached 43.35 passengers, up 65.5% from the same period in 2021 but still down24.6% from the first half of 2019, with domestic passenger volume up 10.5% andinternational passenger volume down 88.3%.  

The number of air passengers going through Vietnamese airportsis expected to reach 70-80 million this year, including 8-10 millioninternational travellers. /.