Private jet market warming up

The news that Thai Aerospace Services has been chosen by Honda as the distributor of HondaJet in the SE Asian market has caught public attention.

HondaJet was launched in December 2015; the manufacturer received 100 orders from all over the world.  The plane is offered to businessmen who want to save time on traveling. It entered the US market after FAA granted a certificate on meeting technical requirements.

A representative of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) said CAAV has not received any information from Honda about bringing HondaJet to Vietnam.

To put a new airplane model into exploitation, manufacturers will have to work with local aeronautical authorities and fulfill procedures to obtain a license.

Besides, every aircraft has to satisfy a series of requirements to obtain two other kinds of certificates, including ownership registration and certificate on meeting requirements to fly.

The manufacturers also have to prove they can satisfy requirements on radio communication systems.

“This is important for small private airplanes, because the planes have low flying range. They make noise and affect residential quarters if they fly at night,” an official from CAAV explained.

For the last 10 years, Vietnam has been the target of many private plane manufacturers and lessors, from luxury planes such as Bombardier Inc (Canada) to helicopters such as Azur Helicopter (France).

Analysts commented that Vietnam is a market with the number of super-rich people expected to increase by 170 percent in the next 10 years, to 540. The super-rich are defined as ones with total assets of over $30 million.

The analysts said it would not be a problem for Vietnamese businesspeople to spend several million dollars to buy airlines. Doan Nguyen Duc, a well-known businessman, once owner two private airplanes. However, the maintenance costs and the licensing fee are big challenges.

Jet owners will have to obtain licenses for every flight, while the owners of helicopters with low flying range will have to obtain approval from the Ministry of National Defence.

Some years ago, Jussi Hoikka, Commercial Manager of Vinacopter, a distribution firm,  commented that though the Vietnamese average income per capita remains at “low average” level, the demand for private aircraft in Vietnam would soar in the time to come.

One of the Vietnamese businessmen who first ordered a private helicopter in Vietnam is Chair of the Hoa Phat Group, Tran Dinh Long.

Long placed the order about the private helicopter with Eurocopter, of which Vinacopter is a subsidiary, in Singapore in 2008.