VN to open new flight path through Laos, Cambodia next year

The aviation authorities of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia agreed to launch a straight air route from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi over Lao and Cambodian airspace from June 2015 onwards, according to Head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam (CAAV) Lai Xuan Thanh.

Thanh told news website Dan Tri Tuesday the decision was reached by Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian aviation authorities following a recent meeting in Da Nang City.

“We reached an agreement with Laos and Cambodia to open the Ha Noi-Ho Chi Minh City straight flight path in June 2015.

“They agreed that the optimum flight level for the path will be FL350 (35,000 feet).”

However, Thanh said, the two countries will only be allowed to fly one-way from HCMC to Ha Noi in the first phase.

In the coming time, they will discuss the possibility of reciprocal flights.

The governments of Laos and Cambodia have yet to decide if they grant CAAV's request to halve the transit fees imposed on Vietnamese carriers once the flight path comes into operation.

On September 3, Viet Nam Airlines and CAAV ran flight simulations of the Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City flight path through Lao and Cambodian airspace.

The new flight path is 85 kilometers shorter than the current route that follows the coastline, according to the simulations. Pilots said that the path saved five minutes from the total flight time.

The new flight path also saved 190 kilograms of fuel, according to flight simulation results.

Viet Nam Airlines and the CAAV said they have tested both types of planes used on the route: the Boeing 777 and Airbus 321.- Thanhnien