A thorough reshuffle of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam(CAAV) is the first solution to easing flight cancellations and delays,Transport Minister Dinh La Thang said at a Hanoi meeting on July 11.

It is the CAAV to address the problem at first, later the TransportDepartment, the AirPorts Corporation of Vietnam, the Vietnam Air TrafficManagement Corporation, and the carriers, he said, adding thatnecessary changes to the Vietnam civil aviation law should be made.

Carriers will have their licences revoked if they continue with failed air services.

He directed CAAV to consider issuing flight slots for airliners andfinalise its scheme to improve the State leadership in aviation no laterthan this month.

According to CAAV Director Lai Xuan Thanh,there were 74,000 flights in the January-June period, 20.9 percent ofwhich were delayed and 3.2 percent called off.

Low-costVietJet Air had the highest rate of failed services with 40 percent,followed by the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and State-ownedVietnam Air Services Company.

Thanh blamed the situation on technical problems, unfavourable weather conditions and poor infrastructure and management.

VietJet Air and JetStar Pacific representatives vowed to reduce theirrate of delayed and cancelled flights by half in July and August.

In September, it will be brought down to 10 percent, Vietnam Jet Air promised.

Meanwhile, JetStar Pacific set the rate at 5 percent for November.-VNA