Aircraft are parked at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. The Government has amended air transport business requirements to help newcomers in the industry

Specifically, the Government has issued Decree 89/2019/ND-CP amending and supplementing some articles of Decree 92/2016/ND-CP on conditional business sectors or activities in the civil aviation industry and Decree 30/2013/ND-CP on air transport business and general aviation activities, the local media reported.

Accordingly, air transport firms will have a foreign ownership limit of 34%, higher than the current 30%.

These firms must also have at least one Vietnamese legal entity that holds the largest charter capital proportion. If the Vietnamese legal entity has any foreign investment, the foreign ownership limit is 49%.

In addition, the new decree, which will come into force on January 1 next year, does not include a regulation that aviation firms operating international flights must have higher charter capital than those offering domestic services only.

Specifically, an air transport firm with a maximum of 10 planes must have minimum charter capital of VND300 billion. For those owning 11-30 or more planes, the minimum amount is VND600 billion and VND700 billion, respectively.

At present, an aviation firm with a maximum of 10 aircraft must have charter capital of at least VND700 billion to be allowed to operate international flights and VND300 billion to offer domestic services. With 11-30 planes, the minimum amount is VND1 trillion for an airline to provide international services and VND600 billion to operate domestic flights.

For those owning more than 30 aircraft, the amount is VND1.3 trillion and VND700 billion for international and domestic flights, respectively.

The Government has also abolished a regulation that stakes in foreign-invested aviation firms must be transferred to foreign investors two years after the firms get their air transport licenses.

Under the new decree, airport operators must have charter capital of at least VND30 billion, much lower than the current minimum charter capital of VND100 billion for domestic airport operators and VND200 billion for international airport operators.

In addition, the foreign ownership at these firms must not exceed 30%. SGT