Vietnam: Carriers see higher profits, expansion talk

Vietnam’s two biggest airlines reported strong growth in domestic and international markets on Thursday, fuelling profits and talk of expansion plans. VietJet, the biggest private airline in the Southeast Asian nation, said it was adding routes to Japan, India and Australia as part of its strategy to become a global airline. VietJet currently operates 38 domestic and 44 international routes. VietJet added 17 new aircraft last year to boost its fleet to 51 planes. VietJet said Thursday it expected pre-tax profit to rise to 5.8t dong this year, up 9.4% from 2017. It also targeted a 20.5% rise in revenue to 50.97t dong from a year earlier. Its state-owned rival, Vietnam Airlines, said on Thursday its pre-tax profit jumped 71% in the first quarter as growth on domestic and international routes exceeded its forecasts. Vietnam Airlines said it carried 5m passengers in the quarter, up 5% from the same period last year.<br/>