VOV.VN - National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will work in co-ordination with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to launch a pilot scheme for the digital health app IATA Travel Pass, with the project set to get underway on June 1.

Vietnam Airlines will provide free transport of personnel who are sent to assist with the anti-pandemic fight in the northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang, the largest hotspots of COVID-19 in the country, as from May 26.

Despite Vietnamese companies’ total net profit growing 81% year-on-year in the first quarter, many still posted big losses.

The Vietnam Travel and Marketing Transport JSC (Vietravel) plans to equitise its Vietnam Travel Airlines Co. Ltd. (Vietravel Airlines), to boost the subsidiary’s development as the first travel airline in Vietnam.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will apply level-2 pandemic prevention standards on all of its domestic flights from May 11.

Local airlines including Vietnam Airlines, Pacific Airlines, Vasco and Bamboo Airways are scheduled to raise their respective system administration fees by VND100,000 (US$4.37) per flight, which will be incorporated into current air ticket fares.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines allows free-of-charge ticket change and refund for travellers with confirmed seats and departure date due to the complexity of the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

Vietnam Airlines incurred after-tax losses of nearly VND5 trillion in the first quarter of this year, surging over 90% year-on-year and the highest-ever losses recorded for a quarter, as the COVID-19 pandemic is emerging increasingly complicated.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has warned that flight slots that are unused for five weeks in a row since March 28 would be taken away.

The Ministry of Transport has proposed the Government increase support for domestic airlines which were heavily hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.