IPP Air Cargo, Vietnam’s first cargo airline, could start flying from November, with several partnerships already established, says its chairman Jonathan Hanh Nguyen.
Nguyen said that the Government Office has ordered six related ministries for their feedback on licensing IPP Air Cargo. There could be clear actions regarding the licensing next week, he added.
Although the cargo carrier is yet to receive its license, it has reached transport agreements with two world’s leading chip manufacturers with factories in northern Vietnam. Each company has registered to use two aircraft of IPP Air Cargo, he said, without identifying the companies.
If it gets its license by the end of November, the airline will launch its first flight from Cat Bi Airport in the northern port city of Hai Phong, Nguyen said.
IPP Air Cargo is also expected to operate a weekly flight transporting agricultural produce from Queensland, Australia to Vietnam’s Da Nang City starting next year, as discussed during this week’s visit by Mark Furner, Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries of Queensland.
The airline has completed procedures to rent four Boeing 737 800BCF aircraft, one of which has been delivered, with the rest due in December and next April. It also signed deals worth $3.5 billion to buy 10 Boeing 777 Freighters.
IPP Air Cargo has a charter capital of VND300 billion ($12.81 million), with Imex Pan Pacific Group holding a 70-percent stake and the family of Johnathan Hanh Nguyen, the company chairman, the rest.
Nguyen had mooted the establishment of the airline in 2021, but the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said it was not considering applications amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
After obtaining an air transport license, the company has to get other permits to fly, including the aircraft operator certificate.
It targets revenues of $71 million in the first year of operation.