Vietnam Airlines exits Cambodian market
Vietnam’s state-controlled national carrier Vietnam Airlines is finally ending its venture in Cambodia after having been pressured by losses arising from Covid-19 restrictions and weak air travel.
The airline said it will completely retire from its participation in Cambodia Angkor Air, a carrier which was launched in 2009 in a 51:49-per cent cooperation between the Cambodian government and Vietnam Airlines with an initial capital of $100 million.
Cambodia Angkor Air was meant to replace Royal Air Cambodge – which ceased operations in 2001 – as the country’s national airline and concentrated on serving tourist routes within Southeast and East Asia, most notably catering for visitors of Cambodia’s northern temple town of Siem Reap. All of its fleet and most of its staff were leased from Vietnam Airlines.
Stake sale planned since 2020
However, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic wrecked the hope of a lucrative business with tourists and a regional expansion, and Vietnam Airlines already in 2020 had expressed its intention to sell its stake in the Phnom Penh-based carrier.
The stake sale, however, only began recently after Vietnam Airlines in a first step managed to sell a 35-per cent stake in Cambodia Angkor Air for $35 million to an undisclosed Chinese firm, the company said in a filing to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. The remaining 14 per cent would be sold by the end of this year, it added.
Vietnam Airlines as a group has been hit hard by the pandemic. Its accumulated losses climbed to 21.98 trillion dong ($947.4 million) last year, roughly as much as its charter capital. It further posted a net loss of roughly 2.6 trillion dong ($112 million) for the first quarter 2022, the ninth consecutive quarter in the red, placing it on the brink of delisting.
[caption id="attachment_38502" align="alignleft" width="300"] One of Cambodia Angkor Air's regional ATR-72 planes leased from Vietnam Airlines[/caption] Vietnam’s state-controlled national carrier Vietnam Airlines is finally ending its venture in Cambodia after having been pressured by losses arising from Covid-19 restrictions and weak air travel. The airline said it will completely retire from its participation in Cambodia Angkor Air, a carrier which was launched in 2009 in a 51:49-per cent cooperation between the Cambodian government and Vietnam Airlines with an initial capital of $100 million. Cambodia Angkor Air was meant to replace Royal Air Cambodge – which ceased operations in 2001 –...
Vietnam’s state-controlled national carrier Vietnam Airlines is finally ending its venture in Cambodia after having been pressured by losses arising from Covid-19 restrictions and weak air travel.
The airline said it will completely retire from its participation in Cambodia Angkor Air, a carrier which was launched in 2009 in a 51:49-per cent cooperation between the Cambodian government and Vietnam Airlines with an initial capital of $100 million.
Cambodia Angkor Air was meant to replace Royal Air Cambodge – which ceased operations in 2001 – as the country’s national airline and concentrated on serving tourist routes within Southeast and East Asia, most notably catering for visitors of Cambodia’s northern temple town of Siem Reap. All of its fleet and most of its staff were leased from Vietnam Airlines.
Stake sale planned since 2020
However, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic wrecked the hope of a lucrative business with tourists and a regional expansion, and Vietnam Airlines already in 2020 had expressed its intention to sell its stake in the Phnom Penh-based carrier.
The stake sale, however, only began recently after Vietnam Airlines in a first step managed to sell a 35-per cent stake in Cambodia Angkor Air for $35 million to an undisclosed Chinese firm, the company said in a filing to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. The remaining 14 per cent would be sold by the end of this year, it added.
Vietnam Airlines as a group has been hit hard by the pandemic. Its accumulated losses climbed to 21.98 trillion dong ($947.4 million) last year, roughly as much as its charter capital. It further posted a net loss of roughly 2.6 trillion dong ($112 million) for the first quarter 2022, the ninth consecutive quarter in the red, placing it on the brink of delisting.
