Vietravel Airlines plans launch of air cargo service

By Anh Tu September 9, 2022 | 04:57 pm PT

A Vietravel Airlines aircraft. Photo courtesy of Vietravel Airlines

Vietnamese carrier Vietravel will cooperate with HCMC-based Asean Cargo Gateway Joint Stock Company (ACG) to launch an air cargo service, contributing 51 percent and 49 percent of the capital, respectively.

Vietravel Airlines CEO Vu Duc Bien said the region’s air cargo markets carried high potential and have not been fully tapped.

The production shift from China to Southeast Asian nations, including Vietnam, was creating an opportunity for the logistics and air cargo industries to take off, he added. After nearly two years of operation, Vietravel Airlines operates a fleet of three Airbus A321s and will receive more new aircraft in the coming time.

For the air cargo business, the carrier will use 2-4 Boeing B737-800Fs, focusing on transporting cargo between Vietnam and Asian production hubs like China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand in the first year.

The partners plan to double the air cargo fleet the following year. Amid the Covid-19 outbreaks of the previous two years, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has converted some of its passenger planes into cargo carriers. Vietnam Airlines had also announced plans to set up a separate air cargo fleet.

Also in the fray will be IPP Air Cargo, Vietnam's first cargo airline, could start flying from November, with several partnerships already established, its chairman Jonathan Hanh Nguyen told VnExpress in August.

Its maiden flight is expected to take off from the Cat Bi Airport in the northern city of Hai Phong.

IPP Air Cargo has completed procedures to lease four Boeing 737 800BCF aircraft, one of which has been delivered. The rest are due for delivery in December and April. It also signed deals worth $3.5 billion to buy 10 Boeing 777 Freighters.