Vietnam, EC Ink Air Services Agreement

Vietnam and the European Commission (EC) signed an air services agreement (ASA) drafted to ensure airlines have fair access to air routes between EU members countries and Vietnam on March 8 in Hanoi.

 

The eight-article document was drawn up to establish a sound legal basis for continued air services between Europe and Vietnam, and contains provisions for existing bilateral ASAs signed between EU members and Vietnam, ensuring they conform to EC statutes.

Under the new agreement, airlines operating outside of EU countries - under the regulatory control or owned by member states or their nationals - are entitled to have access to air routes between relevant EU member states and Vietnam, without bias in favor of nationality.

Deputy Minister of Transport and director general of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, Nguyen Tien Sam, said at the signing ceremony that the agreement “would pave the way for the formal signing of a broader EU-Vietnam agreement, which could substantially consolidate and liberalize co-operation on civil aviation.”

He said the agreement would ensure EU-based airlines had better access to routes between Europe and Vietnam in the context of the EU’s single aviation market.

He said “Vietnam is strengthening this process of co-operation and integration.”

 

Ambassador-head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Vietnam, Dr Markus Cornaro, said: “In response to the robust development of the single European Union market over the past decade, the EC is endeavoring to complement and amend existing ASAs between EU member states and third countries through the conclusion of EC level agreements.”

The European Commission is conducting negotiations on such agreements with many third countries, and has already signed 22 agreements to date. The commission is also seeking to sign similar agreements with all ASEAN member countries.