Vietnam Airlines and All Nippon Airways Group sign memorandum of understanding on strategic cooperation

On January 12, Mr. Le Hoang Dung - spokesman of Vietnam Airlines Corporation - JSC (Vietnam Airlines) said that the Corporation and Japan's largest airline All Nippon Airways (ANA Group) signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic cooperation.

Accordingly, ANA Group will buy shares of Vietnam Airlines for VND2,431 billion (equivalent to USD108 million).

This strategic partnership will help both sides exploit and leverage each other's strengths to expand their flight network and international markets; at the same time, both sides are committed to sharing and using each other's services in the two markets. ANA Group is Japan's leading airline, with 5-star service quality in the world. When becoming a strategic shareholder of Vietnam Airlines, it will open up opportunities for cooperation, support and transfer of management experience from a top airline in the world to Vietnam Airlines.

Illustration photo.

“Asia is a key market for ANA in our international expansion strategy, and Vietnam Airlines is an ideal partner because we share similar high levels of development, customer approach, and operational efficiency,” said Shinya Katanozaka, CEO of ANA Group. “We look forward to completing this strategic investment soon and officially partnering with VNA to better serve our passengers.”

Mr. Pham Viet Thanh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Airlines said: “We highly appreciate ANA Group in its decision to make a long-term investment and move towards becoming a strategic shareholder of Vietnam Airlines. ANA is considered one of the leading airlines in the region and the world. Cooperating with ANA Group will help Vietnam Airlines acquire new management technology, expand the market, improve service quality, and increase competitiveness in the international market. I believe that this strategic cooperation will enhance the value and image of Vietnam Airlines brand in order to bring added value and more convenience to our customers.”

ANA Group will send representatives to join the Board of Directors of Vietnam Airlines, and commit to sharing management experiences to support Vietnam Airlines in improving service quality and optimizing operations.

Vietnam Airlines currently operates 66 flights per week on 10 routes between Japan and Vietnam. Meanwhile, ANA operates 14 flights per week on two routes between the two countries.

From October 2, 2015, Vietnam Airlines announced that it will launch the “Golden Moment” program with special prices applied on some of its domestic flights. (Illustration photo).

According to Mr. Le Hoang Dung, immediately after the memorandum of understanding is signed, Vietnam Airlines will report to the Ministry of Transport and the Prime Minister for approval of the negotiation results. The approval of the Vietnamese Government and the agreement between ANA Group, Vietnam Airlines and the shareholders of both parties will be the premise for the two parties to continue to sign the Share Purchase Agreement, expected in the first quarter of 2016.

Although the equitization of an airline is unprecedented in Vietnam and finding a strategic investor is not easy for many equitized state-owned enterprises, thanks to the drastic direction of the Government, the Ministry of Transport, the Party Committee of the State-owned Enterprises Bloc and related units, the equitization and restructuring of Vietnam Airlines has basically been implemented according to the approved roadmap, going through important milestones. The process of finding a strategic shareholder is reaching its final destination, completing a successful cooperation deal and promising a bright future for Vietnam Airlines as well as the Vietnamese aviation industry.

According to QĐND Online