(29Nov10, 02:17 GMT, 197 words)
SIA Engineering (SIAEC) and Vietnam's Southern Airports Corp (SAC) have launched a line maintenance joint venture at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat International Airport.
The Singapore Airlines subsidiary owns a 49% stake in the joint venture, Southern Airports Aircraft Maintenance Services (SAAM), while SAC holds the remainder.
SAAM started operations in November with nine customers. These are Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, United Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Cardig Air and Neptune Airlines.
"The joint venture will further enhance the level of airline support provided at the airport, giving added confidence to the more than 40 international airlines and domestic airlines flying here," says Nguyen Dinh Hung, director of Saigon Ground Services.
State-owned SAC operates nine international and domestic airports in the southern region of Vietnam. Its subsidiary SAGS is the dominant ground-handling service provider at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, with a market share of more than 50%.
This is the first line maintenance joint venture in Vietnam, and SIAEC's sixth overseas line. This gives the company line maintenance facilities in more than 20 airports in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, the USA, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news