HCM City (VNS/VNA) -The second wave of COVID-19 that began at the end of July, the peak summertravel period, has disillusioned airlines that had earlier begin to hope for arecovery.

After the first wave wascontrolled by the end of April they gradually increased operations on domesticroutes to somewhere approaching normalcy.

They were very hopeful ofoffsetting the earlier losses during the peak July-September travel season, butthe fresh wave has dashed those expectations.

According to the Civil AviationAuthority of Vietnam (CAAV), between July 19 and August 18 the five domesticcarriers, Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet, Bamboo Airways, Pacific Airways, andVASCO, operated only 16,400 flights, down 33 percent from the previous monthand 45 percent from the same period last year.

Vietnam Airlines’ schedule wasnearly 40 percent lighter at 4,300 flights. Vietjet Air’s was down 31 percentat 5,700.

Bamboo Airways, Pacific Airwaysand VASCO’s were down 17 percent, 15 percent and 43 percent month-on-month.

A decrease in demand alsodragged down fares, with round-trip tickets between Hanoi and HCM City at theend of September priced at only 1.2 million VND (52 USD), down two or threetimes from early July.

General Director of VietnamAirlines Duong Tri Thanh forecast the total number of domestic flights in thelast five months of the year to be only 70 percent of last year’s.

For the full year the numbercould be 30-40 percent lower as could fares, he said.

To improve cash flow, airlineshave to sell tickets for Tet (Lunar New Year) one month earlier than normal andoffer a lot of discounts.

The Vietnam Aviation BusinessAssociation has called on the Government to offer airlines credit worth 25-27trillion VND (1.07 billion USD-1.16 billion USD) at preferential interest ratesfor three- or four-year terms.

It was one of therecommendations it made to the Government recently to stimulate the sector thatis facing a severe downturn due to the pandemic.

It also called for extendingthe waiver and reduction of aviation service charges until the end of 2021 andcutting all airport service charges by 50 percent.

The association also petitionedPrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to allow resumption of flights to countriesthat have controlled the COVID-19 outbreak and allowing foreign tourists toenter Vietnam if they comply with safety requirements.

The International Air TransportAssociation has said the Vietnamese aviation industry will only return to lastyear’s levels by 2024.

Vietnamese airlines wouldsuffer estimated losses of more than 4 billion USD this year, it said./.