Pham Ngoc Minh (right), newly-elected Vietnam Airlines' Chairman of the Board of Directors and Duong Tri Thanh, the firm's new General Director. — Photo VNA

HA NOI (Biz Hub) – Shareholders of the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) agreed to elect Pham Ngoc Minh to be the corporation's chairman and Duong Tri Thanh as general director from June 1.

The information was released at the VNA's annual shareholders' meeting held in Ha Noi on Monday.

Minh will replace Pham Viet Thanh, who was recently appointed by the Politburo as Secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Business Bloc in the 2015-2020 tenure on April 12.

Minh, 56, was appointed as the VNA's deputy general director in May 1993. He became general director in December 2007.

Thanh was born in 1961. He was assigned to be the VNA's deputy director in October 2008.

At the meeting, VNA reported that it was completing negotiations on a share sale agreement (SSA) with ANA Holdings Inc, owner of Japan's biggest airline All Nippon Airways.

The signing is expected to take place at the end of this month. Under the agreement, Vietnam Airlines will sell nearly 108 million shares, or 8.77 per cent of its registered capital to ANA Holdings Inc. If the deal is successful, ANA Holdings will be VNA's strategic partner.

Shareholders vote for Vietnam Airlines's plans in 2016. — Photo VNA

The partnership with ANA Holding Inc is expected to help Vietnam Airlines continue to raise its corporate management capacity, financial resources, service quality, market development and access to new technologies, affirming its position as the national carrier and increasing its efforts to become one of the leading airlines in the region.

After completing the deal with ANA Holdings Inc, Vietnam Airlines will issue additional shares to reduce the State-owned holding rate to 75 per cent, and heading to 65 per cent of registered capital in the future.

The report showed that in the first quarter of this year, Vietnam Airlines conducted 34,500 domestic and international flights, an increase of 9.3 per cent compared with the same period last year. It carried more than 4.6 million passengers, making a year-on-year increase of 11.6 per cent.

The corporation earned estimated consolidated revenue of more than VND19 trillion (US$854.7 million), 13.3 per cent higher than the same period last year, reaching 26.4 per cent of the yearly target. Pre-tax consolidated profit is expected to be over VND1 trillion, a rise of 32.5 per cent year-on-year.

The parent company, including Vietnam Airlines and its subsidiary Vietnam Air Services Co. (VASCO), is estimated to make more than VND15 trillion in revenue and VND873.9 billion in pre-tax profit.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat said that Vietnam Airlines had carried out equitisation in a methodical and scientific way, in particular, its ongoing completion of choosing strategic shareholders.

"Vietnam Airlines applies advanced technologies for operation, especially the exploitation of new Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350 craft, as well as modern technologies for the corporation's management system, proving its leading role in the renewal process and in international integration," said Nhat.

Based on valuations of the country's economic potential, business environment and strategic orientation of the Government's aviation industry development, the corporation's shareholders approved the targets for this year.

Vietnam Airlines plans to invest VND9.9 trillion in developing business. The investment will focus on key projects suitable for long-term development and raising competitive capacity and effects of the corporation's business and operation.

It targets to carry nearly 20.1 million passengers this year, making consolidated revenue of VND77.8 trillion and a profit of VND2.3 trillion. — VNS