HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Airports throughout the country served more than 50.5 million passengers and handled 905,000 tonnes of goods in 2014, year-on-year increases of 14.7 per cent and 18 per cent respectively, said Lai Xuan Thanh, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

The domestic market served an estimated 17.5 million passengers, rising 20.5 per cent against last year. The percentage of delayed and canceled flights declined sharply to 19.3 per cent, Thanh said yesterday in Ha Noi.

Viet Nam's aviation sector co-ordinated with relevant parties to operate more than 542,000 flights without any accident. On the other hand, the number of incidents relating to aviation safety increased by a staggering 177 per cent.

One of the most serious incidents was the first-ever power outage at the HCM City Area Control Centre (ACC/HCM), which lasted 35 minutes, disabling the radar system controlling air traffic and affecting at least 54 flights within the city's flight information region (FIR) on November 20.

The sector plans to implement a national air traffic safety programme. — VNS