Trial results showed the proposed route was 85.2km shorter, saving five minutes of flying time and 190kg of fuel.— Photo TCGTVT

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Aviation authorities from Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia had agreed to launch a straight air route from HCM City to Ha Noi over Lao and Cambodian airspace from June 2015 onwards, according to Head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam (CAAV) Lai Xuan Thanh.

The route would cover flights from HCM City to Ha Noi at the optimum altitude of 35,000 feet, Thanh said, explaining that the route from Ha Noi to HCM City still required further research.

The CAAV would work with the International Civil Aviation Organisation on the opening of the new air route and complete all the required steps, he added.

Earlier, a delegation from the Ministry of Transport negotiated the optimum altitude with Laos, since the country was concerned the new air route could interfere with existing national routes and complicate flight operations.

In late August, the Vietnamese ministry called upon the Government to look into the creation of a straight air route linking Ha Noi and HCM City via Laos and Cambodia.

On September 3-4, flight simulator (SIM) tests were run by the CAAV in co-operation with Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air on a potential route from Ha Noi's Noi Bai Airport to Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM City through the two countries' airspace.

Trial results showed the proposed route was 85.2km shorter, saving five minutes of flying time and 190kg of fuel.

Transport Minister Dinh La Thang has been pushing for the prompt launch of the new route, expecting it to shorten flights between Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports and save fuel.

In March 2009, the CAAV received a proposal for the Ha Noi-HCM City straight air route from former pilot Mai Trong Tuan.

The proposed air route would mean flights between the capital and the southern economic hub go through Lao and Cambodian airspace, rather than the ocean, no longer following Viet Nam's "S" shaped coastline. — VNS