Keeping pace

The rise of Vietnam’s airlines outstrips airport capacity

It’s been a long time since the airlines of Communist-run Vietnam trundled their passengers around in obsolete and crash-prone Soviet era Tupolevs and Illyushins. These days the country’s carriers have modern fleets of Boeing and Airbus jets and, like everywhere else in the region, they are scrambling to keep up with double-digit traffic growth and pressure from foreign rivals to gain increasing access into their travel markets.

Vietnam is not alone. From Indonesia to the Philippines, China to Thailand, the bulk of that pressure is coming from the low-cost carrier sector as rapidly-expanding budget operators strive to find routes on which to throw the hundreds of single-aisle jets they have on order for delivery over the next decade and beyond. These massive aircraft orders may look like a treasure chest to the aircraft manufacturers, but they are increasingly posing a potential nightmare for the region’s aviation authorities.