Jetstar pacific

The Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific has named five new directors to its board, including the deputy head of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) Nguyen Quoc Phuong, the ACV reported on Thursday.

The announcement was made at the 16th Regional Assembly of ACI Asia-Pacific held in March.

Aside from Phuong, the other four new directors of ACI Asia-Pacific’s board include Nicolas Claude of Airport International Group from Jordan; Jerry Dann of Taoyuan International Airport Corporation Ltd. from Taiwan; Dato’ Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salled of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad; and Videh Kumar Jaipuriar of Delhi International Airport Ltd. from India, according a notice posted on the ACI Asia-Pacific website.

Being named to the position makes Phuong the first high-ranking ACV official to be elected to ACI Asia-Pacific’s board of directors since the Vietnamese corporation, which manages 22 airports in Vietnam, became a permanent member of this regional airport organization in 2012.

Phuong, who has a PhD in economics, earned a master’s degree in business administration from the UK’s Greenwich University and has previously worked for United Airlines in the U.S.

He has been a deputy general of ACV since January 15, 2020, after finishing three years as general director of Jetstar Pacific Airlines (now Pacific Airlines).

Before joining Jetstar Pacific, Phuong headed the Vietnam Airlines office in Europe.

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In a proposal it sent to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, it wants the fare ceiling to be increased by VND50,000-250,000 ($2.17-10.86), and minimum fares to be 35 percent of the ceiling, or VND787,500-1.01 million.

It claimed having minimum fares would ensure fair competition among airlines and help them overcome the hardship caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, but said they could be scrapped once the aviation industry recovers from the pandemic.

Analysts said if the proposal is accepted, airlines would not be able to offer free flight tickets under promotions, and tourism companies and passengers would be the losers.

In 2017, Vietnam Airlines had suggested fixing minimum domestic fares of VND1.54-4.2 million ($68-$185), while its subsidiary Jetstar Pacific had proposed VND600,000-1.2 million.

But both were rejected by the Ministry of Transport.

Passengers arrive at Chu Lai Airport in Quảng Nam Province. The central province plans to host international tourists with vaccine passports as part of a pilot project. Photo courtesy of Jetstar Pacific

QUẢNG NAM — The central province of Quảng Nam has put forward plans to host international tourists with vaccine passports and negative coronavirus tests.

As part of the plans, arrivals at Chu Lai Airport will stay at the assigned Hoiana resorts in Duy Xuyên District and Tui Blue Hotel in Núi Thành District for five or 10 days.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, Lê Trí Thanh confirmed the plans to Việt Nam News , stating that the province and managing boards of the two resorts and Chu Lai Airport authorities held a working session on preparations to soon host tourists with the proposed vaccine passports.

Thanh said the province will register with the Government to become the first province in Việt Nam to pilot the hosting of international visitors and roll out a ‘safe tourism’ programme.

“We plan to receive South Korean ‘vaccine passport’ tourists on chartered flights as part of the pilot project, and they (tourists) must test negative for coronavirus by Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR),” Thanh said.

“Chu Lai Airport will be given better medical testing equipment and coronavirus prevention measure for arrivals as well as the reception sites at the two hotels,” he said.

The chairman said the two hotels are far from community and residential quarters, and the two sites had been tested and surveyed by the Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also agreed with the pilot plan.

Thanh said all staff of the two hotels and task force members will be vaccinated and implement coronavirus preventive measures before hosting tourists.

Beach-front Hoiana integrated resort and hotel comlex and Tui Blue in central Quảng Nam Province are assigned to host the first  international visitors with vaccine passports. Photo by Thanh Hà

Quảng Nam Province’s tourism industry saw poor growth in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and storms and floods.

The province, which is home to the UNESCO-recognised world heritage sites Hội An ancient town and Chàm Islands-Hội An world biosphere site, saw tourism revenue decline by 82.7 per cent in 2020, hosting only 1.46 million tourists – an 81 per cent reduction from 2019.

The tourism association of Quảng Nam has inked an agreement to boost post-COVID-19 tourism in the region in 2021 with Đà Nẵng and Thừa Thiên-Huế. — VNS