No new airlines will be allowed to open in Vietnam until 2022 at the earliest, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has announced.

Dung said until the aviation industry has fully recovered from the fall-out of the Covid-19 pandemic, no new airlines will be considered.

His ruling conforms proposals submitted by the Ministry of Transport (MoT) in May.

The announcement will come as a blow to a number of new airlines that were hoping to take to the skies soon.

Kite Air of hospitality group Thien Minh and Vietstar Airlines of Vietstar Airlines Multirole Corporation were racing for permits.

With the ministry’s decision, these airlines must continue to wait for permits.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The said: “In the most optimistic scenario, only in 2022, the local aviation market could reach the result it did in 2019.”

According to the ministry, Viet Nam has 214 aircraft, but right now less than half are being used.

To ensure the State management of aviation to develop sustainably in the future, the MoT suggested focusing on restoring the domestic air travel and solving the difficulties for the local airlines.

VIET NAM NEWS/Asia News Network