Vietnam Airlines: big ambitions

January 17, 2011
By Ben Bland
Financial Times (UK)

State-owned Vietnam Airlines wants to turn Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City into "major gateways" for the wider Indochina region, challenging the dominance of Bangkok and Singapore.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Pham Ngoc Minh, the flag carrier's chief executive, said he was looking to expand connections with Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, as well as adding new routes and more flights to Europe.

Minh said:

We have our strength in our domestic market but, at the same time, we hope that as we develop Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, they become major gateways for the sub region.

Vietnam Airlines already has a 45 per cent market share at Cambodia's Siem Reap airport, which is the dropping-off point for the ancient temples around Angkor Wat.
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