Procurement of long intermediate range aircraft to serve regional flights

Regarding the purchase of four Boeing 777s and engines for these planes, VNA General Director Nguyen Xuan Hien said in the VNA fleet development strategy approved for the 2001-2010 period, VNA needs from between nine and 11 long range and long intermediate-range airplanes.

In the 2000-2001 period, expanding flights in the region was of great importance for the corporation as the economic efficiency of these flights was higher than those of long flights to the US and France. Therefore, the purchase of four Boeing 777s aimed to explore regional fights more efficiently, especially flights to Northeast Asia and Australia.

Mr Hien said the project on buying the four planes was approved by the Vietnam Civil
Aviation Corporation and the Prime Minister.

Concerning the purchase of engines, Mr Hien said there were some different opinions on choosing between three types of engines for these planes namely, General Electric (GE), Rolls Royce (RR) and Pratt & Withney (PW).

Based on a proposal from the VNA to choose the PW engines, which were the cheapest of the three engines, the PM agreed to buy them.

Mr Hien added that the VNA is currently leasing six Boeing airplanes including four long-range ones to serve long flights to Germany and France since the four old Boeing 777s with lower loads aimed to exploit regional flights.

However, Mr Hien affirmed that to date, all Boeing 777s have operated safely and efficiently, meeting the project targets, while crew members have accessed technology transfers to master new techniques.

Still hope for lawsuit in Rome

Also in the morning, the Vietnam Aviation Corporation provided some information regarding Vietnam Airlines and lawyer Maurizio Liberati. Mr Hien said the lawsuit is undergoing complicated developments but there is still hope for VNA. VNA sent an appeal to the Italian court which was accepted.

Currently, VNA is working with lawyers in France and Italy to deal with the case and at the same time executing the verdict by the Court of Appeals in Paris to avoid negative outcomes. VNA paid 5.2 million euros into an intermediary account under the Rome court verdict. On October 17, the Rome Court of Instance will continue to deal with the lawsuit, while the Court of Appeals in Rome will handle the case on July 13, 2007.

Recovering the sum to support students to study abroad

Regarding the sending of unqualified 16 students to study abroad, director Hien said it was VNA’s mistake, not the students’ parents. Mr Hien said after receiving the decision by the Party Central Committee’s Inspection Commission, the corporation met with those related to the case, recovered the money and proposed measures to deal with the case.

In terms of promotion of the corporation’s officials, the Inspection Commission said among 339 files in the 2001-2005 period, 11 files did not match the standards set in the regulations determined in 2000. The corporation admitted not following the regulations, leading to the promotion of some officials who did not match the requirements.

At the press briefing, Director Hien affirmed that the corporation will strictly deal with those involved in negative cases, regardless of their position.