HANOI: The recent resumption of domestic and international air routes is building hope that the sector will strongly rebound this year, following a tough year for business in 2020 and 2021.

       According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), domestic airlines operated 126,280 flights in 2021, down 41.7% year-on-year, and nearly 60% from pre-pandemic levels.

       Regular international flights had been completely frozen since the first wave of the pandemic, except for those bringing home overseas Vietnamese, or carrying foreign experts.

       The General Statistics Office, under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said Vietnam welcomed only 111,100 international arrivals by air last year, a drop of 96.4% from the previous year.

       Pham Viet Dung, chairman of the Vietnam Aviation Business Association, said Vietnamese airlines experienced decreases of 80% to 90% in revenues.

       The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines reported an accumulative loss of 21.2 trillion dong (US$934.7mil or RM3.93bil) as of the end of the third quarter last year.

       However, a representative from Vietnam Airlines said the carrier’s market share and revenue from cargo transport still took the lead in South-East Asia, reaching some eight trillion dong (RM1.48bil) in the year, up 60% from 2020. The carrier will continue to focus on cargo transport. — Viet Nam News/ANN