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Vietnam: Vingroup-backed Vinpearl Air sets sight for take-off in July 2020
Following the document, Vinpearl Air plans to add six planes on average per year to expand its fleet to a total of 30 by 2024, including 21 narrow-body and 9 wide-body aircraft. By 2026, the number could go up to 42 aircraft. Vingroup previously renamed its subsidiary VinAsia Development Service and Trading to Vinpearl Air with charter capital of VND1.3 trillion (US$56 million).
As per Vietnamese legislation, an airline needs to have registered capital of at least US$56 million to operate up to 30 airplanes on domestic and international routes.
The company also submitted documents to Hanoi’s Planning and Investment for business registration.
The municipal department is currently seeking opinion from government agencies, including the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Defense, among others, regarding VinPearl Air’s proposal.
VinAsia Tourism Development JSC, another arm of Vingroup, holds a 45% stake at Vinpearl Air, while businessmen Hoang Quoc Thuy and Pham Khac Phuong, a senior executive at Vingroup, hold 30% and 25% stakes at the company, respectively.
Vietnam currently has five operational airlines, including Vietnam Airlines, budget operator Jetstar Pacific Airlines (partly owned by Vietnam Airlines), budget carrier Vietjet Aviation, Vietnam Air Services (VASCO) and Bamboo Airways, which flew for first time in January this year.
In early July, Vingroup and Canada-based flight training provider CAE signed an agreement to cooperate in training pilots and aircraft engineers, with an aim of providing 400 pilots and aircraft engineers every year meeting standards set up by the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV), US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).