Transport infrastructure and facilities
Airports and air travel
Vietnam rushes for new north-south air path as traffic grows
Vietnamese agencies plan to launch a new flight path connecting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as increasing air traffic on the country’s busiest route may cause strain and congestion, the government’s website has reported. The new path will run parallel but 30 kilometers above the ...
Vietnam airlines refuse to cut fares despite cheaper fuel, bigger revenue
Vietnam’s transport minister has called for lower airfares to match a sharp decline in fuel costs, but carriers say their tickets are already affordable. At a meeting on 4 January, Minister Dinh La Thang asked that Vietnam Airlines make its tickets cheaper after the national carrier reported ...
Three holdouts cloud ASEAN's future of open skies
ASEAN’s ambitious open-skies scheme has clearly missed the 2015 year-end deadline, and its full implementation appears elusive. Three members of the 10-nation bloc — Indonesia, the Philippines and Laos– seem reluctant to join the scheme for full liberalisation of Southeast Asia’s aviation sector. Keep reading ...
Starbucks opens doors in airport
The long-awaited Starbucks coffee chain opened its doors to passengers on 22 December in the Phnom Penh International Airport’s new terminal. Keep reading ...
Making Southeast Asia's skies safer
Last week, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration downgraded the safety rating for the entire Thai aviation system, placing it among those of a handful of countries — including Southeast Asian neighbors Bangladesh and Indonesia — that don’t meet international “minimum safety oversight standards.” Boeing expects Southeast Asian airlines ...
Vietnam's biggest airport to stop receiving new flights during rush hours
As overcrowding is getting more serious at Vietnam’s largest airport Tan Son Nhat, local aviation authority is now looking to stop receiving new flights during rush hours, a local official said on 5 December. Dang Tuan Tu, director of the Ho Chi Minh City-based airport, was ...
THAI staff threaten strike action
Thai Airways International Plc (THAI) has assured it plans no salary cuts for middle-level and low-level staff amid speculation ground staff plan a strike against the company’s cost-cutting scheme. Rumours of a strike on 25 November spread rapidly on social media via groups of staff, prompting urgent attempts ...
Only 2 out of 22 Vietnam airports are making profits: report
With the exception of Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai, the other 20 airports around the country have been making losses or barely broken even, local media reported. The troubled airports often operate far below their designed capacities, as they are still in the middle of ...
Bangkok's main airport to get huge traffic surge
Suvarnabhumi airport expects to see traffic surge nearly 20% over the next six months on the back of strong high-season travel demand, turning it into one of Asia’s busiest airports. A total of 24.8 million passengers are expected to pass through the country’s gateway airport between 25 ...
Proposed Xayaboury airport still up in the air
The go ahead for construction of a new airport in Xayaboury province is still awaiting government approval with no decision in sight. The provincial Public Works and Transport Department sent plans for a new airport to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport earlier this year. A ...
