Hanoi (VNA) – The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has announced thatit conducted over 70,400 safe flights transporting 10.3 million passengers inthe first half of 2017, up 6 percent year-on-year.

Theon-time performance (OTP) rate of departing flights reached 91.3 percent,higher than the set target.

Inthe period, about 155,000 tonnes of goods were transported on VNA flights, anincrease of 24 percent compared with the same period last year.

Itstotal revenues were estimated at nearly 43 trillion VND (1.89 billion USD),while pre-tax profits estimated at 830 billion VND (36.52 million USD).

Toincrease its competitiveness, the carrier has continually improved its services.The carrier’s customer satisfaction index reaches 3.83 points out of 5 points,higher than the set target.

Inearly July, it partnered with IT infrastructure provider Sabre Vietnam tolaunch a brand-new customer service centre offering 24/7 service, including onholidays, in Hanoi.

[Vietnam Airlines opens new 24/7 customer service centre]

Thecarrier has also carried out an online programme surveying its services qualityin order to support and answer queries of passengers.

Inthe second half of this year, it will focus its resources on ensuring flightsafety and security, especially during the summer holiday.

Atits annual shareholders’ meeting on June 20, the national flag carrier reportedthat it operated nearly 140,000 safe flights in 2016, carrying more than 20.6million passengers, respectively increasing by 13 percent and 21 percent.

The firm earned over 2.6 trillion VND (114.4 million USD) in pre-tax profit, up1.5 times from the previous year.

In 2017, the company aims to serve more than 22.5 million passengers and gain87.9 trillion VND (nearly 3.87 billion USD) in consolidated revenue.-VNA