Indochina Airlines gets nod to resume flights

Indochina Airlines, Vietnam’s only fully-private passenger carrier, will be allowed to resume services on January 20 after a two month suspension, the Civil Aviation Administration said Thursday.
Vo Huy Cuong, head of the administration’s Aviation Transport Department, said Indochina had met all financial requirements and reached agreements with its service providers concerning its debts.
Cuong said the aviation administration would provide favorable conditions for the airline to restart flights ahead of Tet, or the Lunar New Year, which is a high season for air travel in the country.
However, he also warned that Indochina could have its license revoked if disputes between the carrier and service providers arise again.
Indochina, which opened in November 2008, has postponed its plan to resume flights several times since suspending service November last year due to both technical and financial problems, including debts of more than VND30 billion to service providers.
Before the suspension, it was using only one airplane on one Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City route.
Indochina plans to rent two Boeing airplanes to resume both its Hanoi-HCMC and HCMC-Da Nang routes this month, Cuong said. The carrier is expected to receive the aircraft by January 18.