The Vietnam Airlines Engineering Company (VAECO), a member of the Vietnam National Flag Carrier – Vietnam Airlines, has just received the FAR-145 certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration of the US.  

So that, VAECO became the first Vietnamese firm matching the international standard on aircraft maintenance services under the US aviation regulation.

The US administration’s experts have highly appreciated VAECO’s capacity, quality and its aircraft maintenance hangars, human resources, training, operations, technical documents, safety as well as quality systems. VAECO has successfully completed five stages of the procedure: preparing and submitting a dossier for the certificate, meeting relevant requirements, implementing and testing, and certificate granting.

In which, the fourth stage was the most crucial one because the FAA experts closely inspected its facilities and then approved these resources in line with the FAA criteria for the applicant.

VAECO is currently providing maintenance services to nearly 70 aircrafts of Vietnam Airlines as well as for other big Asian carriers like Japan Airlines, Air Asia, Asiana Airlines, Air China, Eva Air, Korean Air and Cathay Pacific.

Mr Nguyen Van Hung, Vice Chief Executive Officer of Vietnam Airlines cum Chairman of VAECO, said the important certificate was a development foundation for the company as it helped the company provide maintenance services for aircraft of not only Vietnam Airlines but also other worldwide carriers.

With the approval of FAR-145 certificate, VAECO can conduct final checks for Vietnam Airlines planes in Vietnam rather than overseas before the carrier returns to its aircraft leasing partners, thus helping the airlines cut down on costs.

Pham Ngoc Minh, chief executive officer of Vietnam Airlines, said VAECO would implement return C checks for around 10 Airbus A320 in the 2012-2013 period. The FAR-145 certificate ensures consistent maintenance and production of aircraft components in Vietnam. According to him, the FAA recognition is a very good condition for Vietnam Airlines’ plan to fly direct to the US in the near future.

Outside the 19th World Economic Forum in HCMC in mid 2010, Vietnam Airlines was pushing for an ambitious plan to fly direct to the US. This new international route was expected to be made possible in the second half of this year. "The US service was not a matter of Vietnam Airlines but depended on the agreements by Vietnam and USD aviation authorities as they were working over technical barriers and air control standards", stressed Mr Ngoc Minh.

The 15 – year- old Vietnam Airlines, a member of SkyTeam, operates 70 aircraft of different types for more than 300 daily flights on 79 routes to 20 domestic and 26 international destinations.

(CPV)