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Mr. Joe Mannix, Chief Representative of United Airlines talked with Vietnam
Economic Times’ Nguyen Thanh
You have experienced Lunar New Year in Vietnam. How do you comment on
Tet?
There were so many overseas Vietnamese returning to their homeland for
Tet and I was really impressed by warm welcome by the Vietnamese Government
for them. The atmosphere and the weather were so wonderful.
In the US, it is very cold in New Year time and it is impossible to know
how the weather will be.
How do you comment on United Airlines’ business since the opening of
the straight airway between San Fransisco and Ho Chi Minh City?
Our flights were full, even during the Christmas and the New Year. We are
looking forward to flourished business in
Vietnam this year. In
January, 97% of our flights from Tan Son Nhat airport were in scheduled
time. One of the problems facing us this year is high oil prices which had
bad impacts on airlines industry last year.
However, grant of visa for
Hong Kong limits number of Vietnamese visitors. We hope that the tourism
industry will coordinate closely with the General Consulate to improve the
situation. We hope to work with Vietnam’s tourism authorities. We will work
with the US Government to minimize process of granting visa for the US to
Vietnamese visitors.
The straight airway to Vietnam help improving the use of our planes and
our customers respond positively.
Airlines industry is always affected by seasonal factor but I believe
that there will be no big change this year.
Which are the majority in San Fransisco - Ho Chi Minh City straight
flights, customers to Hong
Kong or those to San Fransisco?
At the moment, the number of visitor from Vietnam to Hong Kong is larger.
They are overseas Vietnamese returning to Vietnam for Tet and then going
back to the US. This summer we will have 3 more flights from Hong Kong to
the US.
Do you have any plan to promote Vietnam’s image so as to attract more
visitors from the US?
United Airlines are working with many organizations in the US to improve
number of visitors to Vietnam. Hemisphere magazine of January 2005 with
picture of a Vietnamese girl and an article titled “3 wonderful days in Ho
Chi Minh City” is available in our flights. Millions of customers will read
it. |
