Vietnam’s aviation industry dreams of flying high The demand for air cargo transportation has bounced back in the world. Vietnam is one of the three fastest growing markets in the world. International air transportation still growing in crisis The demand for air cargo transportation has been increasing rapidly since early 2013, following the recovery of the world’s economy. According to IATA (International Air Transport Association), the demand would increase by 2.7 percent in 2013 which would ensure the stable profit for air carriers. Handling 40 percent of the total cargo volume in the globe, the airlines in Asia Pacific are believed to make a great contribution to the creating of the $4.2 billion profit in 2013. The region would be the biggest beneficiary if the cargo air transportation demand increases as forecast. The opportunity for Vietnam Luu Thanh Binh, Deputy Head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), said despite the big difficulties caused by the global economic recession, the Vietnamese aviation market still grew steadily in 2012 with the international cargo transportation value up by 17 percent. Experts believe that Vietnam is one of the three aviation markets with the highest growth rates in the world. Over 50 international airlines have been present in Vietnam. Juha Järvinen, a senior executive of Finnair, a Finish air carrier, while agreeing that Vietnam is one of the fastest growing markets in the world, has announced that the airline would provide 2 flights a week on Hanoi – Helsinki, commencing from June 2013. It is also considering opening the HCM City – Helsinki route soon and may provide cargo air transportation services the next year. Cyrille Picard, Marketing Director of Airbus also thinks that Vietnam’s cargo air transportation would increase rapidly which would help develop the country’s aviation industry. The WTO membership and the stable annual 5 percent economic growth rate have led to the sharp increase in the international trade, thus bringing about the increase in the demand for goods transportation services. However, despite the great potentials, Vietnam’s aviation industry still lags far behind the rest of the world. Do Xuan Quang, Chair of the Vietnam Logistics Enterprises’ Association, said the air transportation logistics have been developing just over the last 20 years, which explains why Vietnam is still weak in technology, governance, infrastructure. Of the current 800 operational enterprises in the field, domestic enterprises only account for 10 percent. Experts say the Vietnamese aviation’s development needs to be supported by the practical policies in the development of the airport system and infrastructure items. It also needs to renovate the technologies to save costs and upgrade the service quality. Besides, a big problem exists that the labor force in the industry just can satisfy 40 percent of the demand. Regarding the airport system development program, Lai Xuan Thanh, Head of CAAV said in 2012-2020, Vietnam would upgrade and build 26 airports with the total investment capital of VND221 trillion. Especially, Vietnam is considering calling for foreign investments into the airport development projects instead of relying on the state’s budget as it has been doing so far. According to Nguoi lao dong, some foreign investors have expressed their intention to make investment in the airport projects. South Koreans are eying the airport in Quang Ninh province, Japanese are aiming the Long Thanh airport and the US seeks the opportunity at the airports in Da Nang and Khanh Hoa province. Source: DDDN