Air Mekong finally flies to Danang, Dalat

The start-up Vietnam Aviation Joint-Stock Co. (Air Mekong) finally commenced services to Danang and Dalat on Tuesday, more than two weeks later than its original schedule as approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam.
The aviation authority told with the Daily on the phone on Tuesday that Air Mekong got approval to conduct flights to Danang and Dalat from November 16. Truong Thanh Vu, director of commercial service at the private carrier, said the airline operated two flights from HCMC and one service from Hanoi to Danang every day.
Vu said Air Mekong also flew daily between HCMC and Hanoi via Dalat, a resort city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. With these new routes, the airline has increased the number of daily domestic flights departing from HCMC and Hanoi to 32.
Earlier this month, Air Mekong announced it was not able to begin its services from Hanoi and HCMC to Danang and Dalat from October 31 as it previously planned. Air Mekong explained the carrier needed more time for preparations, but the aviation watchdog attributed the postponement to low demand based on the report submitted by the airline.
Air Mekong reported an average load factor of 60% or higher for the flights in the airports in the two major cities of Vietnam, HCMC and Hanoi; Danang in the central region; Dalat, Pleiku and Buon Ma Thuot in the Central Highlands; Phu Quoc and Con Dao offshore southern Vietnam.