Pham Ngoc Minh, Chairman of the Board of Vietnam Airlines (VNA), said that the airline is selling shares, according to the Government’s plan to equitize the state-owned enterprises.
Last year, Vietnam Airlines sold an 8.8 percent stake to Japanese airline ANA Holdings for US$108 million. ANA, as a strategic shareholder of Vietnam Airlines, will offer ample opportunity to cooperate and transfer management experience for the latter.
Also, the two sides have signed numerous cooperation agreements to expand the route network and connect customers between Vietnam and Japan. Japan is Vietnam Airlines' leading foreign market with strong business and cultural links.
"We will try to connect Japan not only with big cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, but also with Da Nang, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, and with such destinations as Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, too.
If you want to withstand the competition, you have to look for partners. You cannot be alone in the market.
Pham Ngoc Minh, Chairman of the Board of Vietnam Airlines (VNA)
The two airlines have also cooperated in codeshare flights (where two or more airlines publish and market the flight under their airline designators and flight numbers as part of their published timetables or schedules) and the frequent miles accumulating program called “Lotusmiles.”
To optimize this strategic partnership, VNA and ANA will further enhance technical cooperation. In particular, ANA will support VNA in the fields where it has strengths such as large-scale business management, customer service, IT and human resources training.
Besides, ANA will also help VNA access capital markets to realize VNA’s ambition to become a leading airline in Southeast Asia by 2020.
The transition from a state-owned enterprise to a joint stock company offers VNA abundant cooperative partnership on a wide range of fields. Currently, VNA is planning to expand its business globally and upgrade the fleet.
Last week, on the sidelines of APEC Summit 2017, Duong Tri Thanh, VNA’s General Director, said that VNA is discussing selling another 4.1 percent stake to potential investors.
The sale will help Vietnam Airlines in its ambitious investment attracting plan to upgrade the fleet and improve the service quality.
