The Vietnamese aviation sector is expected to fully recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic by the end of 2023, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of VietNam (CAAV).
An estimated 80 million passengers and 1.44 million tonnes of cargo are projected to be transported by air this year, the authority said.
According to the global outlook for the aviation industry by CAAV, the amount of passengers and cargo transported by air in Vietnam this year will rise by 45.4% and 15% from last year, respectively, or up 1% and 14.8% from 2019 before the pandemic broke out.
Vietnam saw a full recovery and recorded strong growth in the domestic aviation market in 2022, while its international market is expected to reach the level recorded in 2019 by the end of 2023.
However, there remain huge hurdles for the sector including limited aviation infrastructure, fluctuation of fuel prices, human resource shortages and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which will continue to have a negative impact on the industry this year.
In addition, there are only a few large airports in Vietnam, all of which have very limited capacities.
Domestic airports served 9.8 million passengers in January, up 13.8% from the previous month, including 2.3 million international arrivals, a rise of 10%, said CAAV.
Vietnamese airports handled 112,000 tonnes of cargo in January, up 11.6% from the previous month, according to the authority.
Around 34 million passengers from Vietnam are expected to travel overseas this year, triple the number of last year, according to analysts at CAAV.
Though China has already resumed travel and economic activities with Vietnam, it will take longer than this year for the aviation sector to recover to pre-pandemic levels, experts said.
The International Air Transport Association predicted a recovery of 80% and 95% in the number of international passengers and domestic passengers, respectively, compared to the pre-pandemic period.
The Asia-Pacific region is expected to recover slowest, according to the association. — Viet Nam News/ANN