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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