Airline adds flights for stranded travellers

HA NOI — National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has announced it would maintain regular flights from Noi Bai International Airport while putting on one more flight for customers delayed by foggy weather on the Ha Noi-Can Tho route and vice versa.

Last Saturday, due to thick fog in a number of northern localities, particularly Ha Noi, the carrier had to cancel, delay and change flight routes on 52 international and domestic flights from and to the airport.

Around 40 domestic and international flights departing from Noi Bai had to be delayed.

Football fans fly charter to Malaysia

HCM CITY — HCM City-based tour operator Vietravel has chartered two planes from Vietnam Airlines with a total of 360 seats to ferry football fans to Malaysia this week for the AFC Cup football semi-final against the hosts.

The flights will leave Ha Noi and HCM City for Kuala Lumpur for the December 15 match.

The tour is priced at VND8.9 million from HCM City and VND9.9 million from Ha Noi.

Vietravel will also organise two to four regular tours to Malaysia next week priced at over VND9 million that will take in the match.

Four killed in traffic accident in HCM City

HCM CITY — Four people were yesterday killed in a road accident when an out-of-control truck hit 10 motorbikes on Highway 1 in HCM City.

One man was killed on the spot while three others died on their way to hospital. Six people were injured in the crash in which the truck, which had faulty breaks, crashed into the motorbikes at a traffic light in Tan Binh District.

The police are hunting the truck driver who ran away from the scene.

The exact number of casualties has yet to be determined.

AmCham grants 40 scholarships

HCM CITY — The American Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam (AmCham Vietnam) last Saturday granted scholarships valued at US$500 each and training vouchers valued at $380 to 40 students from city colleges.

Nearly 600 students from 10 universities in HCM City participated in the AmCham Scholarship 2010 Programme.

AmCham Vietnam has thus far awarded 348 scholarships to Vietnamese students, including 230 Amcham Scholars awards for the top students passing all four selection rounds and 118 Honorable Mention awards between 2001 and 2010. — VNS

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Flights from and to Hanoi resume operation

The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has announced that on Dec. 12 it would maintain its regular flights at the Noi Bai International Airport and increase one more flight for customers delayed by foggy weather on the Hanoi-CanTho route and vice versa.

Earlier, on Dec. 11, due to thick fog in a number of northern localities, particularly Hanoi, Vietnam Airlines had to cancel, delay and change the direction of 52 international and domestic flights from and to Noi Bai International Airport.

The carrier had to cancel six flights from Hanoi to central Vinh city, the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho and the northern province of Dien Bien. To avoid bad weather, three flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi had to change their direction to land at the Da Nang Airport (one flight) and Vientiane Airport of Laos (two flights).

One flight from Da Nang to Hanoi had to land at Vientiane Airport and two flights from Can Tho and Nha Trang had to land at Da Nang Airport.

Around 40 domestic and international flights departing from Noi Bai International Airport had to be delayed.

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Turbulence injures 21 on VN Airlines' Paris flight

Eighteen passengers and three crew members were injured by severe turbulence on Oct. 20 while on board Vietnam Airlines Flight VN535 from Hanoi to Paris.

The flight operated a Boeing 777-200 aircraft and was carrying 222 passengers and 15 crew members.

Immediately after the incident, the captain and Vietnam Airlines Operation Control Centre requested that local airport authorities be prepared with medical assistance upon landing.

The crew provided first aid and took other necessary measures to all injured passengers while the plane continued its route to Paris , finally landing safely at Charles de Gaulle Airport.

All 21 injured passengers and crew members were taken to the airport clinic for medical evaluation, and nine were later sent to a local hospital for treatment.

As of 8pm October 20, most of the injured had been discharged from the hospital and are expected to recover soon.

A press release from the carrier said that all remaining passengers were safe and unaffected.

The aircraft is currently grounded at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and will go through further evaluation and maintenance before returning to Vietnam .

Vietnam Airlines is proactively co-operating with local authorities and insurance partners to complete necessary formalities and to provide further assistance to passengers./.

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Airline signs contract for training 60 pilots

HCM CITY — National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines signed last week a contract with the Viet Flight Training JSC (VFT) to train 60 pilots between 2010 and 2012.

Under the contract, batches of 20 pilots each will be trained for 72 weeks in Viet Nam and France.

The contract will help pave the way for the transfer of basic pilot training technology to Viet Nam by the end of 2012.

Vietnam Airlines officials said the contract signals the company's interest in developing human resources for the aviation industry so as to ensure sustainable development of the sector in general and the national carrier in particular.

By the end of 2010, the airlines will have 636 pilots, 60 per cent of them Vietnamese.

For raising the number of Vietnamese pilots to 75 per cent of the carrier's staff by 2015, the Vietnam Airlines needs at least 100 new pilots trained locally and abroad every year to maintain an average annual growth of 10 per cent in its pilot contigent between 2011 and 2020.

Nguyen Sy Hung, chairman of the board of the Vietnam Airlines Corp, said the contract signed with the VFT would help the carrier cut training costs and make the airline more competitive.

VFT General Director Nguyen Nam Lien said in 2010 and 2011, the company would conduct four more pilot training courses for different airlines in Viet Nam and in the region, with the majority of trainees coming from the Vietnam Airlines.

His company will also co-operate with the Viet Nam Aviation Academy to teach flight skills to trainees at the Cam Ranh International Airport.

Lien added that technology transfer would be completed by the end of 2012.

Established in June 2008 under the Government's policy to offer basic pilot training for the country's aviation industry, the VFT is the first pilot training centre in the country that has obtained the Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL). — VNS

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