An official of the Competition
Administration Department (CAD) on April
3 said that CAD has sent a document to
the Vietnam Air Petrol Company
(Vinapco), requesting that the company
explain why Vinapco did not supply fuel
to Pacific Airlines on April 1, which
caused the delays of 30 Pacific Airlines
flights.
As such, CAD has officially kicked off
the preliminary investigation over the
said case. The official said that CAD
will follow the set procedures, based on
the two laws, the Competition Law and
the Ordinance on Protecting Consumers.
The official said that the interruption
of fuel supply has indirectly affected
the benefit of consumers, and CAD may
investigate if Vinapco is taking
advantage of its dominant position as
the sole distributor of air petrol on
the market.
On April 1, 30 domestic flights of
Pacific Airlines were delayed for 2-3
hours as the exclusive petrol supplier,
the Vietnam Air Petrol Company, Vinapco,
interrupted providing fuel to the
airline.
Vinapco unilaterally stopped providing
fuel to Pacific Airlines aircrafts since
the two sides could not reach an
agreement on the petrol price increase
as of April 1as requested by Vinapco.
However, by late afternoon April 3, CAD
still had not received a petition from
Pacific Airlines about the case.
Meanwhile, Deputy Head of the Civil
Aviation Administration of Vietnam
(CAAV) Lai Xuan Thanh said that the new
Aviation Law stipulates that airport
development enterprises have the right
to provide air services, which means
that Vinapco will not be the only
supplier of air petrol anymore.
Currently, CAAV is restructuring
companies that provide air services at
airports. However, the requirements on
air petrol provisions are really very
strict.
On the afternoon of April 3, General
Director of Pacific Airlines Luong Hoai
Nam sent further documents to the
Ministries of Transport, Industry and
Trade, Finance and Vinapco. Nam wrote
that though Vinapco is a one-member
limited company, belonging to Vietnam
Airlines Corporation, Vietnam Airlines
and Vinapco are two independent
companies which operate under two
different laws.
Vinapco operates under the Enterprise
Law, while Vietnam Airlines under the
State-owned Enterprise Law. Vinapco and
Vietnam Airlines are two legal entities,
and each of them has to take
responsibility for its production and
business results.
Vinapco provides fuel to Vietnam
Airlines based on the economic contracts
between the two enterprises, though
Vinapco is now a subsidiary of Vietnam
Airlines.
Prior to that, Nam expressed Pacific
Airlines’ protest against Vinapco’s
unfair treatment. Vinapco did not stop
providing fuel for Vietnam Airlines,
though the air carrier also did not
accept the fuel price increases
requested by Vinapco.
Pacific Airlines is a joint stock
airline, in which the state holds 82% of
stakes through the State Capital
Investment Corporation and
Saingontourist.
Source : Tien Phong
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