Vietnam’s air cargo market looks set to hot up with market leader Vietjet Air Cargo revealing plans to tap new sectors as other entrants enter the market.
“E-commerce, express, and mail are the main targets that Vietjet Air Cargo is focusing on,” Vietjet Air Cargo CEO, Do Xuan Quang, told Air Cargo Week in written responses.
Vietjet’s optimism is based on two things: Vietnam’s booming economy and new planes, including designated freighters, allowing it to tap markets deeply.
“With our B737 freighter operation coming in the second half of this year, it will capture this dynamic market sector as the first freighter service ever introduced by a Vietnamese carrier,” said Quang.
This will give the LCC main deck capability to be scheduled for peak times – an advantage over the traditional belly passenger operation, said Quang. Electronic products is another core market VietJet is looking at as are perishables, already 12 per cent of its uplift, but one the carrier is keen to develop further, Quang said.
Underpinning all this is an economy growing at seven per cent annually and pulled along in the wake of export and import growth at 21.1 per cent and 20.8 per cent respectively Quang said.
“With the existence of global manufacturers such as Samsung, LG, Intel, the export turnover of this market sector in 2017 has reached up to $25.88 billion, which increased from only $18.96 billion in 2016,” Quang told ACW.
“Capturing this market sector is not only an opportunity for us to grow, but it is a gate for us in becoming one of the most competitive player in the air cargo industry,” he added.
Already though such strong figures are attracting the attention of potential rivals. Most recent to join the fray is national carrier Vietnam Airlines who plan to set up a formal cargo unit to tap similar markets.
“We now look at both the cargo unit as well as the better logistic system,” Vietnam Airlines CEO Doung Tri Thanh said in a recent TV interview.
