HANOI – Vietnam Airlines has defied the economic slowdown by reporting strong profits for 2008.
The airline’s director general Pham Ngoc Minh said the national flag carrier accumulated US$1.56 billion in revenue last year, an increase of 31.3% over the previous year. Pre-tax profit was US$14.1 million.
The airline carried more than 8.8.million passengers, up by 10.6% from the previous year’s figures.
The airline expects growth to slow this year but is budgeting to carry 9.4 million passengers in 2009.
Vietnam Airlines chairman Nguyen Si Hung said the airline’s targets this year were to reduce expenditure, and develop an e-ticketing system to maximise revenue.
Vietnam Airlines, now a SkyTeam member, plans to expand its fleet over the coming years, having signed for 39 aircraft, including Boeing 787s, Airbus A350-900s and A321s.
The ATR72-200 fleet is being replace by a modern fleet of ATR72-500s to be delivered from June 2009 to May 2010.
