CAAV welcomes European airlines

The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) has pledged favorable conditions for European airlines to launch services to Vietnam, especially those from European Union (EU) member states.
Vo Huy Cuong, director of CAAV’s Air Transport Department, said the aviation authority was implementing policies to open the market to European carriers with an aim to strengthen aviation cooperation between the EU and Vietnam.
“We welcome all qualified airlines (from the EU) to Vietnam,” Cuong told the Daily after the EU and Vietnamese authorities renewed an aviation agreement earlier this month to remove nationality restrictions in the bilateral air services agreements between EU member states and Vietnam.
“The agreement will allow any EU airline to operate flights between any EU member state and Vietnam, where a bilateral agreement exists and traffic rights are available,” the European Commission (EC) announced on its website.
The agreement means all carriers of the bloc will be able to be designated by any of the 17 member states with which Vietnam has bilateral agreements. But they will only be able to fly if there are unused traffic rights in these agreements and will not be able to fly from those states with which Vietnam does not have bilateral agreements.
The EC said the agreements would bring several provisions in bilateral air services agreements between 17 member states and Vietnam in line with European law.
The EC said the new agreement represented an important step towards boosting air transport between the EU and Vietnam, and that air transport was crucial for the two sides to link people, cultures and businesses.
Cuong of CAAV said airlines of the EU and Vietnam had been allowed to decide and offer their own fares in line with the market demand for the flights between Europe and Vietnam. Aviation authorities will only step in to deal with unhealthy competition, such as low fares.
Cuong said Vietnam’s previous agreements with EU member states required airlines to propose and submit their fares to aviation authorities for consideration and approval. However, this requirement is not necessary in the current context of strengthened aviation relations between the EU and Vietnam.
Currently, Lufthansa and Air France of the EU bloc carry out passenger services between Frankfurt and Paris respectively and Vietnam via the Thai capital of Bangkok. Vietnam Airlines operate flights between these European cities and HCMC and Hanoi.
Another European carrier, LOT Polish Airlines, is preparing to launch direct services between Warsaw and Hanoi from next month, with a frequency of three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and using the Boeing 767-300 aircraft on this route.