The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has been granted an air operator’s certificate (AOC) for start-up carrier Vietstar Airlines.
The new airline was set up in 2011 by state-owned companies and the Vietnamese air force, with a registered capital of VND400 billion ($17.6 million) but it has been providing ground handling services, aircraft maintenance and pilot training.
The Ho Chi Minh-based company first applied for an AOC with CAAV in 2015 but was asked to raise its capital to VND800 billion.
The carrier will operate a mixed fleet of Embraer Legacy 600 and Beechcraft King Air B300 aircraft and is also looking to lease five Boeing 737-800s and then grow its fleet to 15 aircraft by 2020.
Vietstar Airlines has set a domestic target of 500,000 passengers and 32,000 tonnes of cargo within its first year of operations.
