Vietnam Airlines always offers special discounts on international and domestic routes to increase the number of passengers. — Photo VNA

Viet Nam News -HÀ NỘI — National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines earned an estimated consolidated revenue of more than VNĐ19 trillion (US$851.3 million) in the first quarter of this year.

This was a year-on-year increase of 13.3 per cent increase, reaching 26.4 per cent of the yearly target.

The pre-tax consolidated profit is more than VNĐ1.071 trillion, rising 32.5 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Of this, the parent company is estimated to have reached more than VNĐ15 trillion in revenue and VNĐ873.9 billion in pre-tax profit.

In a press release issued on Sunday, 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 per cent and 11.2 per cent 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 Việt Nam 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 Việt Nam, 20 per cent higher than that of the same period last year. Of the figure, nearly two million passengers came to the country by the airline. — VNS