Hanoi (VNA)ꦜ - National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines earned an estimated consolidated revenue of more than 19 trillion VND (851.3 million USD) in the first quarter of this year.

This was a year-on-year increase of 13.3 percent increase, reaching 26.4 percent of the yearly target. The pre-tax consolidated profit is more than 1.071 trillion VND, rising 32.5 percent compared with the same period last year. Of this, the parent company is estimated to have reached more than 15 trillion VND in revenue and 873.9 billion VND in pre-tax profit. In a press release issued on April 24, the carrier said it had operated in a good business environment where the macro-economy remained stable with fine GDP growth. In addition, the fuel price was kept low while the foreign exchange at its key markets had increased in comparison with the United States dollar. During the period, the carrier flew more than 4.6 million passengers and nearly 61,000 tonnes of goods, 11.6 percent and 11.2 percent higher than its plan, respectively. However, the firm is still faced with many challenges and fluctuations from the market such as highly-increased terrorism in the Europe, particularly after the bombings that occurred in Brussels in March, and doubts about the Zika virus's penetration into Vietnam that affected the travelling demands on international routes. Complicated weather and infrastructure at a number of airports have also hampered the firm from implementing its plans and services. In the first three months of the year, there were 2.46 million international guests visiting Vietnam, 20 percent higher than that of the same period last year. Of the figure, nearly two million passengers came to the country by the airline.-VNA