Air passengers down in first five months due to COVID-19
There were 122,000 flights from and to Vietnamese airports in the first five months of this year, down 5.9% year-on-year, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).
The number of passengers stood at 25.5 million, down 4.9%. Of these, 116,000 were international passengers, down 98.3%, while the remainder were local travellers, up 27.7%.
Vietnamese carriers catered to 12.8 million passengers, up 1.8% year-on-year, including 66,000 international passengers, down 97.5%, and 12.7 million local travellers, up 28.3%.
Passenger numbers were 1.35 million in May, down 27.8% year-on-year, of whom 14,000 were international passengers, up 55.6%, and 1.32 million were domestic passengers, down 28.8%.
Some 570,000 tonnes of cargo were transported during the period, up 15% year-on-year.
CAAV General Director Dinh Viet Thang said the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously damaged civil aviation activities around the country, with domestic airlines being the hardest hit.