Aviation growth undermined by support industry’s slow progress: analysts

The country has over 200 aircraft and 22 airports, with another seven to be added by 2030, but the supporting industry is highly dependent on foreign suppliers, experts from the Vietnam Association on Aviation Science and Technology (VAAST) said at a recent forum.

Airlines buy aircraft but do not invest in doing their own maintenance, and there is little research or manufacture of parts and equipment, they added.

The state-owned Vietnam Airlines Engineering Company and the private Aerospace Engineering Services Company are the only firms that provide maintenance services, they pointed out.

Few products are manufactured locally for the aviation industry, and this delay in the development of the supporting industries should not continue, they said.

Industry insiders said all parts of an aircraft, from brakes to tires, are imported because domestic companies lack the technology to make them.

This drives up maintenance and leasing costs, which account for half of airlines’ expenses, and they cannot do anything about it, they said.

VAAST analysts said government incentives are needed to encourage companies to enter the supporting industries and reduce dependency on imports.

Tran Thi Thai Binh, head lecturer at the aviation economy department, the Vietnam Aviation Academy, said training is key because there is a considerable gap between demand for services and what local engineers can provide.

"We rely on foreign engineers for key technical and management tasks. The question is how to develop local experts to lead the industry."

One solution is to hire foreign experts to teach local engineers, she added.