The official said, although being the first private carrier to obtain a business licence, VietJet Air is latest to start flights. Meanwhile, the Law on Aviation rules that the validity of a carrier license is two years.

Receiving a licence in December 2007, VietJet Air has three main shareholders namely Sovico Group, T&C Group and HCM City Housing Development Joint Stock Bank (HDB).

According to the initial plan, the firm will launch first flights by the end of 2008. However, due to the changes in fuel prices, the start was delayed to four months later. In March 2009, VietJet decided to suspend the plan again due to the difficult economy. Yet, factually the particular flight schedule has not been drawn.

At present, there are three licensed private air carriers, including VietJet Air, Indochina Airlines and Mekong Aviation. Indochina Airlines of the composer Ha Dung started flying with eight flights a day on the route from HCM City to Hanoi and Da Nang. Since the middle of April 2009, the firm has operated with only plane and the frequency reducing a half because of the affects of economic crisis.

Third private carrier Mekong Aviation also plans to schedule flights for next year with a fleet of 10 plans on domestic routes of Hanoi-Phu Quoc, Hanoi-Nha Trang and Hanoi-Can Tho.

Yet, to date no firm has released any plans.