VietNamNet Bridge – Low-cost carrier VietJet Air and the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines have joined forces to test a new flight path over parts of Laos and Cambodia that would greatly reduce flight time between Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport and Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport.

This flight path, dubbed “the Golden Route”, would see the two carriers flying over the south of Laos and the northwestern corner of Cambodia, and could shave approximately 30 minutes of flying time off connections between the two cities, thus potentially saving both airlines hundreds of millions in dollars in production costs on an annual basis.

In accordance with the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), both airlines ran a series of simulated flights from August 29 to September 3 to fully assess the route.

VietJet and Vietnam Airlines will subsequently submit a report on the cost efficiency and other operational benefits after a strict evaluation is carried out.

In due course, the airlines will make a decision on whether or not they should consider altering their current routes between the capital and the southern hub which operate entirely in Vietnamese airspace.

VietJet ran its simulations with an Airbus A320 – the airline’s aircraft of choice. VietJet, the country’s fastest growing airline that operates 27 domestic and international routes, has teamed up with the world’s leading aviation companies, such as Airbus, Cyber Source (USA) and SIAEC – Singapore Airlines (Singapore), to assemble the region’s most modern fleet of aircraft. It plans to continue adding new routes and offer higher quality services in line with its mission to offer customers the best possible flying experiences for the best possible prices.

During a visit to Cambodia two weeks ago, Transport Minister Dinh La Thang and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An agreed to create favorable conditions for the direct straight air route linking Hanoi with HCM City over Cambodian airspace.

In 2009, CAAV received a proposal from ex-pilot Mai Trong Tuan, who said this direct flight route would help reduce time, distance and other costs. However, research on this project was suspended following several seminars on the planned route.

In 2012, Tran Dinh Ba, a member of the Vietnam Association of Economic Sciences, also proposed the direct Hanoi-HCMC air route flying over the two neighboring countries’ airspace, but it was rejected due to illogical calculation of the flight distance.

CAAV was also worried that the new service would then be defined as an international air route, which could cause a number of problems including management of aviation safety.

PV