Vietnam Airport Corp. sees 2020 profit to drop 80% to $86.5mln on virus

Travel restriction regime to limit the spread of coronavirus has severely hit tourism industry and transport sector. China, South Korea, which contribute 20 percent and 25 percent of Vietnam’s aviation market respectively had to suspend international air routes to contain the virus.

The Vietnam’s airport operator expects 2020 revenue to fall 38% from a year ago to VND11,317 billion ($487.5 million). Vietnam’s airports are expected to transport more than 69 million passengers in 2020, down 41 percent from 2019.

In the first quarter of this year, number of transported passengers decreased 19 percent and 72 percent drop in second quarter. Numbers of international visitors fell 35 percent in first quarter and 99 percent in second quarter, ACV reported.

In Jan.-March period, Vietnam Airport Corporation (UPCoM: ACV) reported VND1,550 billion ($66.8 million) after-tax profit, down 22.4 percent while revenue fell 18 percent to VND3,635  billion ($157 million).

In 2020, ACV plans to continue to focus on implementing key projects including Passenger Terminal T3 at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, expansion of Passenger Terminal T2 at Noi Bai International Airport, and other projects in Phu Bai, Cat Bi and Vinh international airports.

Currently, the company operate 21 out of 22 civil airports in Vietnam, including the largest airports in the country such as Tan Son Nhat, Noi Bai, Da Nang.

Recently, ACV announced it reduced airline service fees for six months from March to August to support airlines suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

ACV decided to reduce fees for a range of airline services at airports, including service fees for aircraft navigation and pipe ladder services, carousel rentals, automatic baggage handling, check-in counters and ground services.

It also announced to waive office rental fees for airlines that have stopped flying, and reduce fees by 30 percent fees for airlines that are still operating flights.

In 2015, the corporation raised $48.4 million from the initial public offering at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. A total of 77,804,122 shares were sold, representing 3.47 percent of charter capital.