A Vietnam Airlines aircraft. Illustrative image (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Economists gathered at an onlineconference on August 2 to seek financial solutions for struggling Vietnameseairlines amid COVID-19 pandemic.
Nguyen Quoc Hung, General Secretaryr of the Vietnamese BanksAssociation said that before the pandemic broke out, Vietnamese airlines hadrecorded outstanding growth, with many private airlines emerging such asVietjet Air and Bamboo Airways.
The consecutive outbreaks of COVID-19 from the beginning of 2020 haveposed adverse impacts on the firms, he noted, pointing out the Government’sefforts to support them. However, the current fourth wave of the pandemic hasworsened the situation.
So far, only Vietnam Airlines has received soft loans, whileother are still struggling in accessing credit, he said, explaining that due to losses in revenue, airlines fail to meet requirements in borrowing loans from banks.
Meanwhile, Bui Doan Ne, Vice Chairman and General Secretaryof the Vietnam Aviation Business Association said that the association hasproposed a number of solutions to the Government, including the application of “vaccinepassport,” the loosening of travel restrictions for passengers who receive fulltwo vaccine shots.
Besides, the association has suggested that the Government ask for the National Assembly’sapproval for refinancing 5-6 trillion VND to private airlines like VietjetAir and Bamboo Airways for a duration of 12 months with two automatic extension.
The association also asked for a 70-percent reduction of the environmental protectiontax for airlines to June 30, 2022, along with cuts of aviation fees in airports and corporate income taxes foraviation personnel training facilities, he added.
Can Van Luc, an economist from the Bank for Investment andDevelopment of Vietnam (BIDV) said that it is necessary to support airlines inovercoming COVID-19 through flexible policies and measures, ensuring fairnessamong all firms.
Hung underlined the need for a legal corridor for the rescue of domestic airlines, for example a National Assembly resolution, and procedures for earlier support measures should be streamlined and new mechanisms created to give airlines easier access to bank loans.
According to Ne, the COVID-19 has resulted in 80-90percent reduction in aviation sector’s revenue. Last year, the sector's passenger transport dropped by nearly 50 percent compared to 2019. In the first six months of 2021,the sector transported only 13.5 million passengers, down 14.6 percent year onyear./.
VNA
