New information on the case of 4 Airbus 321 planes being "covered"

Ministry of Transport holds urgent meeting with ministries and sectors about aircraft shortage

At the regular Government meeting on April 3, 2024, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung reported on the difficulties of Vietnam's aviation industry.

Accordingly, the number of commercial aircraft has decreased sharply, many domestic flights have been cut or reduced in frequency, increasing airfares, affecting tourism development and people's travel needs.

The Minister also recommended urgently researching and developing solutions and policies to support aviation businesses in maintaining flight routes and the number of commercial aircraft, limiting the impact on ticket prices, people's travel, and developing domestic tourism.

It is known that, right after the Government meeting, on April 5, 2024, the Ministry of Transport held a meeting with ministries and branches to discuss the implementation of the Cape Town Convention, the Cape Town Protocol and the Chicago Convention as well as solutions to overcome the current shortage of aircraft, especially in the context that the press has reported a lot about the situation of 4 aircraft that used to belong to Vietnam's fleet being wasted and not being exploited.

The meeting was chaired by the Ministry of Transport with the participation of leaders of the Civil Aviation Authority, the Legal Department of the Ministry of Transport and representatives of the Ministry of Justice, General Department of Customs, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, etc.

Vietnam fully complies with the Convention.

At the meeting, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice affirmed that Vietnamese law has been internalized and complied with the provisions of the above mentioned international treaties; there are no contradictions or conflicts between domestic law and international treaties on aviation. In fact, it can be assessed that Vietnam has been and is complying well with its obligations as a member of Cape Town.

Regarding the four temporarily imported aircraft of Vietnam Airlines that are currently awaiting the final judgment of the British Court and the Hanoi Court on related disputes, the agencies attending the meeting all agreed that, while waiting for the Court to issue a final decision, the above aircraft have had their Vietnamese nationality removed and handed over to the interested party, FWA, in accordance with the regulations and the Cape Town Convention, the Cape Town Protocol and the Chicago Convention.

These aircraft are currently registered in another country (Guernsey), so Vietnam no longer has jurisdiction, which means it cannot issue any related documents for these aircraft.

Many planes are grounded. Photo: Reporter — Airline tickets are not only expensive but also scarce. Photo: Reporter

Plane covered at the airport. Photo: Reporter — The plane is "covered" at the airport. Photo: Reporter

Plane — Domestic aircraft are in short supply. Photo: Reporter

The export airworthiness certificate is an irreplaceable mandatory document.

Under the provisions of the Cape Town Protocol, the application of remedies to shipowners in relation to aircraft (including aircraft exports) is required to comply with the aviation safety laws and regulations of the relevant State.

In the case of the above 4 aircraft, the export of aircraft from Vietnam must comply with the export regulations of the Customs authority, comply with the Law on Civil Aviation of Vietnam 2006 (amended and supplemented in 2014), Decree 68/2015/ND-CP (amended and supplemented by Decree No. 07/2019/ND-CP) and other relevant documents.

At the meeting, representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the General Department of Customs all agreed that Vietnam has done well in the Cape Town Convention and that the export of aircraft requires a Certificate of Airworthiness issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam as prescribed in Decree 68/2015/ND-CP.

These agencies emphasize that other documents such as the Official Letter confirming the technical status of flight safety cannot be used to replace the Certificate of Airworthiness for Export.

Notably, representatives of the agencies also warned of the risk of Vietnam being sued by shareholders of foreign-invested airlines if it does not comply with the law, affecting the interests of investors.

Previously, on March 27, 2024, the General Department of Customs also issued Official Dispatch No. 1265/TCHQ-GSQL to the People's Court of Hanoi City, affirming that for 4 aircraft, when preparing customs dossiers for export, the dossier must include a "Valid Certificate of Airworthiness for Export issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam as prescribed in Point a, Clause 1, Article 10 of Decree No. 68/2015/ND-CP dated August 18, 2015 of the Government, amended and supplemented by Decree No. 64/2022/ND-CP dated September 15, 2022 of the Government".

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam currently does not have the authority to issue export airworthiness certificates.

According to current regulations for aircraft registered in Vietnam before export and registered in another country, the Civil Aviation Authority has the authority to issue a Certificate of Airworthiness for Export.

However, the above aircraft had removed their Vietnamese nationality and immediately registered as Guersney nationality without requesting an Export Airworthiness Certificate.

Therefore, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam no longer has jurisdiction over aircraft of other nationalities and cannot issue Certificates of Airworthiness for export as prescribed in Circular 01/2011/TT-BGTVT of the Ministry of Transport.

According to research, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has repeatedly issued documents confirming that the Authority has lost the right to issue export airworthiness certificates for these four aircraft.

In Official Dispatch No. 5530/CHK-TCATB responding to FWA, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said that the A321 aircraft was granted a Certificate of Aircraft Nationality Removal by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam in January 2023 at the request of FWA.

At that time, FWA did not request the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to issue an Export Airworthiness Certificate. According to practice and implementation procedures, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam will issue an Export Airworthiness Certificate immediately after the aircraft is deregistered from Vietnamese nationality before registering as another country's nationality.

However, the removal of nationality of A321 aircraft has been more than 6 months as prescribed, so the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam can only confirm the current technical status of the aircraft without issuing an Export Airworthiness Certificate.

Thus, without the mandatory condition of an Export Airworthiness Certificate, FWA cannot take the aircraft out of Vietnam.

If the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam issues this certificate to FWA, it may violate current regulations of Vietnamese law.

In addition, in official dispatch 578/SB-GSKS sent to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam and related units, the Customs Branch of Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department "requested the units of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, Southern Airport Authority, Northern Airport Authority to coordinate in monitoring and promptly notify the Customs Branch of Tan Son Nhat International Airport before issuing flight permits for 4 aircraft".

At the same time, the document clearly stated that 4 A321 aircraft had completed temporary import procedures, but the re-export documents of the shipment did not meet the regulations on customs procedures. These 4 aircraft are also involved in disputes at the British Court and the Hanoi People's Court.

Therefore, to ensure customs supervision of goods that have not completed customs procedures, Tan Son Nhat Airport Customs Branch requests the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam and the Southern and Northern Airports Authorities to coordinate in monitoring and notifying before flight permits are issued for the above 4 aircraft.

According to information from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the airline is currently operating over 100 aircraft and all aircraft leasing companies are cooperating to operate the fleet to serve the aviation market.

Only FWA has removed the Vietnamese nationality registration, registered the aircraft in another country and tried to take the invalid aircraft out of Vietnam, completely inconsistent with the airline operating the aircraft.

Currently, the competent court in Vietnam has accepted the lawsuit filed by the airline against foreign banks for illegally terminating aircraft lease-purchase contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic social distancing period, causing damage to the airline and forcing the suspension of operations of new aircraft in Vietnam's fleet. These aircraft are assets and the subject of a dispute in the lawsuit being resolved by the Vietnamese court.

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