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Air
France’s move will allow national flag carrier Vietnam
Airlines to enjoy a de facto monopoly on those routes,
said Pham Ngoc Minh, Vietnam Airlines deputy chief executive.
Vietnam
Airlines first launched non-stop flights to France in
July 2003. Then in February 2004, Air France and Vietnam
Airlines struck a code-share agreement to launch direct
flights between the two countries and Air France started
offering direct flights in April 2004.
Since
then, the two carriers have operated 12 non-stop flights
a week between France and Vietnam.
“Although
the code-share agreement in theory means cooperation
between the two 1companies, competition in fact still
exists,” Mr. Minh said.
Vietnam
Airlines has managed to make good profits on these routes
because it uses Boeing 777-200s airliners while Air
France only uses Airbus A340-300s, he said. “Therefore,
Air France’s suspension is seen as a victory for Vietnam
Airlines,” said Mr. Minh.
As
well, “Vietnam Airlines will be the sole carrier operating
direct link between Vietnam and Europe,” he added.
The
airline leader said Air France decided to suspend the
services following unprofitable operations on the routes.
But,
Air France reported that its decision was aimed at concentrating
on the more lucrative Chinese and Japanese routes.
An
Air France official said the carrier saw huge demand
for its direct flights to Japan and China and it did
not have enough planes to operate all routes properly.
However,
the French airline confirmed that Vietnam’s aviation
market had potential and that the suspension was just
temporary.
Air
France said it was planning to re-establish the code-share
deal by the end of October 2005. Vietnam Airlines officials
also confirmed the information.
Source:
VNExpress – Compiled by Hieu Trung. |
