The Ministry of Transport held an urgent meeting with ministries and branches about the aircraft shortage
At the regular Government meeting on April 3.4.2024, XNUMX, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung reported the difficulties of Vietnam's aviation industry.
Accordingly, the number of commercial aircraft decreased sharply, many domestic flight routes were cut or reduced in frequency, increasing air ticket prices, affecting tourism development and people's travel needs.
The Minister also proposed to urgently research and have solutions and policies to support aviation businesses in maintaining flight routes and numbers of commercial aircraft, limiting the impact on ticket prices, people's movement and development. domestic tourism.
It is known that immediately after the Government meeting, on April 5.4.2024, 4, the Ministry of Transport held a meeting with ministries and branches to discuss the implementation of the Cape Town Convention, Cape Town Protocol and Chicago Convention as well as as solutions to overcome the current aircraft shortage, especially in the context of press agencies reporting a lot about the situation of XNUMX aircraft that used to be part of Vietnam's fleet being wasted and not being exploited.
The meeting was chaired by the Ministry of Transport with the participation of leaders of the Aviation Administration, the Legal Department of the Ministry of Transport and representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the General Department of Customs, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. deliver…
Vietnam fully complies with the Convention
At the meeting, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice affirmed that Vietnamese law has been internalized and complies with the provisions of the above international treaties; There is no contradiction or conflict between domestic law and international treaties on aviation. In fact, it can be assessed that Vietnam has been complying well with its Cape Town membership obligations.
Regarding the 4 aircraft temporarily imported by Vietnamese airlines currently waiting for the final decision of the British Court and the Hanoi Court on related disputes, the agencies attending the meeting all agreed that, While waiting for the Court to make a final decision, the above aircraft have had their Vietnamese nationality removed and handed over to the interested party, FWA, in accordance with regulations and the Cape Town Convention, Cape Town Protocol and the Convention. Chicago.
These aircraft are currently registered with the nationality of another country (Guernsey), so Vietnam no longer has jurisdiction, meaning it cannot issue any related documents to these aircraft.
Certificate of airworthiness for export is a mandatory document that cannot be replaced
According to the provisions of the Cape Town Protocol, the application of corrective measures to shipowners related to aircraft (including aircraft export) is required to comply with laws and regulations on cargo safety. not of the country concerned.
In the case of the above 4 aircraft, the export of aircraft from Vietnam is required to comply with the export regulations of the Customs agency and comply with the 2006 Vietnam Civil Aviation Law (amended and supplemented). 2014), Decree 68/2015/ND-CP (amended and supplemented by Decree No. 07/2019/ND-CP) and other related documents.
At the meeting, representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the General Department of Customs all agreed that Vietnam has implemented the Cape Town convention well and that exporting aircraft is required to have a Certificate of eligibility. Export flight documents are issued by the Vietnam Aviation Administration according to the provisions of Decree 68/2015/ND-CP.
These agencies emphasized that other documents such as the Official Letter confirming technical and flight safety status cannot be used as a substitute for the Export Airworthiness Certificate.
Notably, representatives of agencies also warned of the risk of Vietnam being sued by shareholders of airlines who are foreign investors if they do not comply with the law, affecting the interests of investors.
Previously, on March 27.3.2024, 1265, the General Department of Customs also issued Official Dispatch No. 4/TCHQ-GSQL sent to the Hanoi People's Court confirming that for 1 aircraft, when preparing customs documents for export, In the dossier, there must be a "Valid certificate of export airworthiness issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam according to the provisions of Point a, Clause 10, Article 68 of Decree No. 2015/18.8.2015/ND-CP dated August 64, 2022 of Amended and supplemented by the Government's Decree No. 15.9.2022/XNUMX/ND-CO dated September XNUMX, XNUMX.
The Vietnam Aviation Administration currently does not have the right to issue Certificates of airworthiness for export
According to current regulations, for aircraft registered with Vietnamese nationality before export and registered with the nationality of another country, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has the authority to issue a Certificate of airworthiness for export.
However, the above aircraft had their Vietnamese nationality removed and immediately registered for Guersney nationality without requesting an export flight certificate.
Therefore, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam no longer has jurisdiction over aircraft of other nationalities and cannot issue Certificates of airworthiness for export as prescribed in Circular 01/2011/TT-BGTVT of the Ministry of Transport. transportation.
According to research, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has repeatedly issued documents confirming that the Department has exhausted its authority to issue Certificates of airworthiness for export with these 4 aircraft.
Official Dispatch No. 5530/CHK-TCATB in response to FWA, the Vietnam Aviation Administration said that the A321 aircraft was issued a Certificate of deletion of aircraft nationality by the Vietnam Aviation Administration in January 1.2023 at the request of FWA.
At that time, FWA did not request the Vietnam Aviation Administration to issue a Certificate of airworthiness for export. According to practice and implementation process, the Vietnam Aviation Administration will issue a Certificate of airworthiness for export immediately after the aircraft is cleared of Vietnamese nationality before registering the nationality of another country.
However, the removal of nationality of A321 aircraft has now exceeded 6 months according to regulations, so the Vietnam Aviation Administration can only confirm the current technical condition of the aircraft without issuing a Certificate of airworthiness. export.
Thus, without the mandatory condition of an Export Certificate of Airworthiness, FWA cannot fly aircraft out of Vietnam.
If the Vietnam Aviation Administration issues this certificate to FWA, it may violate current regulations of Vietnamese law.
In addition, in official dispatch 578/SB-GSKS sent to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam and related units, Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Branch, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department "requested the Department's units to Vietnam Airlines, Southern Airport Authority, Northern Airport Authority coordinate to monitor and promptly notify Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Branch before any flight permits arise. with 4 aircraft".
At the same time, the document clearly states that 4 A321 aircraft have gone through temporary import procedures, but the re-export documents for the shipment have not met regulations on customs procedures. These 4 aircraft are also involved in disputes at the British Court and Hanoi People's Court.
Therefore, to ensure customs supervision of goods that have not completed customs procedures, the Tan Son Nhat Airport Border Gate Customs Branch requests the Vietnam Aviation Administration and the Southern and Regional Airport Authorities. Bac coordinates monitoring and notification before issuing flight permits for the above 4 aircraft.
According to information from the Vietnam Aviation Administration, the airline is currently operating over 100 aircraft and all aircraft leasing companies cooperate to operate the aircraft fleet to serve the aviation market.
Only FWA has deleted Vietnamese nationality registration, registered aircraft in another country and tried to take illegal aircraft out of Vietnam and was completely inconsistent with the airline operating the aircraft.
Currently, a competent court in Vietnam has accepted the airline's lawsuit against foreign banks regarding the illegal termination of aircraft lease-purchase contracts during the pandemic social distancing period. COVID-19, causing damage to airlines, forced new aircraft in Vietnam's fleet to temporarily suspend operations. These aircraft are assets and the subject of dispute in a lawsuit being resolved by Vietnamese courts.
