A
new wave of Eastern European airliners offering services connecting Vietnam to
their countries has emerged, said Do Xuan Quang, CEO of airline dealer Vector
Aviation.
After their recovery from a period of economic
ills, many airline carriers in Eastern Europe are seeking new markets, and
Vietnam appeared to be their potential choice in both Asian and Southeast Asian
markets, Quang told newswire Saigon Times Online.
In the last few years, Vietnam has attracted
many Eastern European airliners, including the Polish national airline, which
is offering services on the Warsaw-Hanoi route, and the Ukraine’s carrier
AeroSvit with its Kiev-Ho Chi Minh City flights, he said.
“Not to mention the Russian airliners Aeroflot
and Transaero, which are exploiting the routes connecting Vietnam and Russia,
as well as other countries from the former Soviet Union,” he added.
Quang said air carriers from Kazakhstan,
Hungary, Uzbekistan and Czech Republic are also eying flights to Vietnam.
Last year Czech Airlines planned to open
services to Vietnam, and the plan was expected to be implemented this year, he
said.
Quang said one of the potential opportunities
for Eastern European airliners to effectively exploit the Vietnamese market is
the increasing number of Eastern European passengers wishing to visit Vietnam.
“Most of the airliners can target tourists who
want to come to Vietnam to enjoy a warm and tropical climate when the freezing
winter hits Eastern Europe,” Quang said.
He added that the carriers also have in mind
passengers from Northern European countries such as Sweden, Norway, and
Finland, who tend to use services offered by Eastern European airliners because
of their lower costs compared to their Western European counterparts.
“For instance, a seat on AeroSvit costs
slightly over US$720, while the Western European carriers charge around $1,200
for a ticket on the same route,” Quang explained.
“Such a large difference will drive passengers
to the airliners whose airfares are lower but service quality is guaranteed.”
Quang added that another target group of
potential passengers is the overseas Vietnamese who are working in Hungary,
Ukraine, Russia and the eastern part of Germany.
“There are around 12,000 Vietnamese living and
working in Ukraine, and the figure in Russia is even larger,” Quang said.
However, he admitted that despite such high
potentials, only a few direct flights exist at the moment between Vietnam and
Eastern European countries, with visa clearance the main obstacle.
“It is not easy to apply for a visa to enter
Russia, and is much harder for one to visit Ukraine,” he said.
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