Gov’t passes changes to air pact with Australia

The Government has endorsed a revised air services pact with Australia, enabling airlines of the two countries to operate many more flights to and from Vietnam.
The document of approval was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem earlier this month, less than six months after Australia and Vietnam struck a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for changes to the pact they inked in July 1995.
The key changes include 3,300 extra seats a week that airlines of Australia and Vietnam can provide between the two countries. The MOU details these airlines can perform 14 weekly flights, equivalent to some 4,200 seats to and from Australia’s main gateway destinations of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, or an increase of around 1,200 seats.
Australian and Vietnamese carriers are allowed to serve seven weekly flights or about 2,100 seats to and from those destinations if the flights stop over at the non-gateway Australian airports of Adelaide, Darwin or Cairns. They can drop off and pick up passengers in Hong Kong as part of their services between Australia and Vietnam.
Jetstar Airways now uses the Airbus A320 aircraft for its four weekly flights between Darwin and HCMC on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Earlier this month, Vietnam Airlines raised frequencies to Melbourne and Sydney cities to 14 flights a week, including two more on the Hanoi-HCMC-Melbourne and one more on the Hanoi-HCMC-Sydney routes.
Authorities of Australia and Vietnam began negotiations in 2010 before they finalized and signed the MOU early this year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been told to inform Australia of the Vietnamese Government’s approval for changes to the aviation pact.
Da Lat flower festival to feature wide range of activities
As many as 18 programmes will take place during the Da Lat Flower Festival to be held in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong from December 30, 2011 to January 3, 2012.
Major programmes will include an international flower exhibition, a street flower parade, a flower market-day, a cuisine and flower festival, and a seminar on flower.
A series of cultural and arts activities will also be held as part of the festival, including a flower road at the Palace Hotel and tours of flower villages, fields, valleys, hills and villas, a trade village fair, a gala night of street dances and flower balloon performances. The opening ceremony of the festival will be held on the night of December 31, 2011.