New route crossing Laos-Cambodia airspace to open

Wednesday, Oct 15, 2014 17:05

Domestic planes will begin flying between the capital and HCM City as of June 2015.— Photo Huy Hung

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Viet Nam will open a new air route between Ha Noi and HCM City that crosses the Laos-Cambodia airspace in June 2015, the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam (CAAV) revealed.

Planes will be flying between the capital and HCM City over Laos and Cambodia rather than over the ocean, following Viet Nam's S-shaped coastline, said Lai Xuan Thanh, CAAV head.

"The route will explore one way from HCM City to Ha Noi in the first stage, flying at an altitude of FL350, equal to 35,000 feet," added Thanh.

Thanh noted that Laos and Cambodia recently allowed Viet Nam to open its air route crossing the two countries, but only for one way in the first stage. The other way will be further studied and discussed in the future.

CAAV will continue with the paper work on the process of opening the route that includes informing the International Civil Aviation Organisation of the plan and working with the organisation in carrying it out.

Dr. Tran Dinh Ba, a member of the Viet Nam Association of Economic Sciences, came up with the new route and discussed it when he presented a profitable business project for Vietnam Airlines, saying the route would be more efficient.

The CAAV has carried out flight simulator (SIM) tests on the proposed route from Noi Bai Airport in the capital city to Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM City last September.

The tests showed that the route was 1,191km long, or 85km shorter than the usual route that aviation companies were taking over the ocean. The flight takes only 103 minutes, saving five minutes of airtime, and consumes only 4,140kg of fuel, savings 190kg. — VNS




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