Indochina given second chance to re-open flights

The Civil Aviation Administration said it would give Indochina Airlines, the country’s only private carrier, a chance to resume services in mid-January after it failed to do so late last year.
Vo Huy Cuong, head of the administration’s Aviation Transport Department, said that although the administration had warned that it would revoke Indochina’s license if the airline couldn’t resume service by January 1, Indochina has made efforts to maintain its operation.
Cuong said Indochina reported its situation to the administration on December 31 and requested approval to restart flights in mid-January. The proposal was being considered, he said.
Indochina, which opened in November 2008, has postponed its plan to resume flights several times since suspending its service November last year due to both technical and financial problems. Before the suspension, it was using only one airplane on the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City route, having closed all other services since the middle of this year.
In a report published by local news website VietNamNet on Friday, Indochina Managing Director Le Hong Pho said the carrier had reached agreements with its service providers concerning its debts, reported to have reached more than VND30 billion (US$1.6 million) last year.
The carrier plans to rent two Boeing airplanes to resume both Hanoi-HCMC and HCMC-Da Nang routes for the upcoming high season before Tet, or the Lunar New Year, he said.