early 2009, according to local newspaper Pioneer on Friday.

Vietjet Air, receiving an air transport license on Dec. 20, will
lease
either Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 planes to conduct domestic and
international flights, said the carrier's general director Nguyen Duc
Tam,
former deputy general director in charge of technical issues of national

flag carrier Vietnam Airlines.

In the short term, Vietjet Air, with a chartered capital of 600
billion Vietnamese dong (37.5 million U.S. dollars), will tap domestic
routes linking Hanoi, central Da Nang city and southern Ho Chi Minh
City.
Its tickets will be mainly sold via the Internet.

Some Vietnamese companies prepared to set up airlines, according to

the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV), who proposed that
the
government license only two or three carriers in the 2007-2010 period.

Now, Vietnam has three operational domestic carriers, including
Vietnam Airlines which holds a domestic market share of over 80 percent,

joint-stock Pacific Airlines, and Vietnam Air Services Company, an
affiliate of Vietnam Airlines.

Vietnam's air industry served nearly 7.9 million domestic and
foreign
passengers in the first 11 months of 2007, posting a year-on-year rise
of
15.7 percent. Meanwhile, the industry transported 119,700 tons of
cargoes,
up four percent, according to the country's General Statistics Office.

Vietnam's aviation market is expected to grow 12-14 percent
annually
in the 2006-2010 period, 9-11 percent in the 2010-2015 period, and 10-12

percent in the 2015-2020 period, according to the CAAV.

Editor: Du Guodong

Delta Air Lines has become the third US carrier operating in Vietnam,
according to a press conference in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday.

Delta will now operate direct flights from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to

some 20 cities in the US, Canada and Mexico.

The airline has offices in Hanoi and HCMC.

United Airlines and American Airlines already operate out of Vietnam.

Delta Air Lines is one of the world's top airlines with a fleet of 440
airplanes serving over 100 million passengers annually.
Reported by Le Cong Son

Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 16 December, 2007, 13:58:03 (GMT+7)
Copyright Thanh Nien News

Not sure of the source of this story, but I think it is Thanh Nien...

Last Updated: Sunday, December 16, 2007 14:00:38 Vietnam (GMT+07)

Scorpions run loose on Vietnam Airlines flight
Six scorpions were found crawling aboard a Vietnam Airlines flight on
Monday, the carrier reported Wednesday.

Passengers on the Hanoi-bound flight were evacuated just after boarding
when two scorpions were found in the aisles.

Nguyen Long, a passenger on the flight originating in Da Nang, told
Thanh
Nien that he had glimpsed "a small black thing" dashing across the aisle

before takeoff.

After the stow-away arachnids were captured by flight attendants, a
two-hour cabin and luggage check ensued.

No more scorpions were found, the passengers re-boarded and the plane
departed.

However, once the plane reached Hanoi, four more scorpions were found by

passengers in an overhead compartment, said Huynh Thi Tuong Van, an
official from the Vietnam Airlines' Central Vietnam office.

Long said the last four scorpions were caught by passengers using the
plane's convenience bags as other passengers shouted in fear.

The Boeing 777 had previously flown from Hanoi to Da Nang, and had been
cleaned before boarding time, said Van.

The incident was the first time scorpions had been found on board a
Vietnam Airlines flight, she said.

She admitted that the airline had not concluded where or how the
scorpions
had boarded the aircraft.

In April, a Vietnam Airlines flight to Tokyo was delayed after a
passenger
told airport officials his white mouse had gone missing en route from Da

Nang to Hanoi.

The mouse was found in a food compartment in the Boeing 777's galley and

was destroyed a day later when its owner did not return to claim it.
Reported by Dieu Hien

December 18, 2007 Tuesday

Vietnam's secretive military opens up;
Defence academy to hold training for outsiders on Viet operations,
strategy

BYLINE: Roger Mitton, Vietnam Correspondent.

HANOI - IN A landmark change, Vietnam's secretive Defence Ministry is
opening up and inviting foreigners to come and study the country's
military operations and strategy.

Senior military officers from around the world have been urged to go to
Hanoi to be tutored by their Vietnamese counterparts at the prestigious
National Defence Academy.

With 455,000 men under arms, Vietnam has the largest standing army in
South-east Asia.

It is battle-tested and in the past half-century has fought and
prevailed against the military might of Japan, France, the United States
and China.

However, military experts concede that their knowledge of Vietnam's
vaunted fighting machine remains patchy due to the obsessive secrecy
imposed by the Defence Ministry's top brass.

So, the proposed change to open up is both surprising and portentous. It
has pleased other countries in the region and the West, especially the
US,which has long encouraged Vietnam to take this kind of action.

And it indicates that the normally conservative and insular Vietnamese
military is embracing the government's credo of seeking to integrate
more with the global community.

Said Professor Carlyle Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the Australian
Defence Force Academy: 'It shows that Vietnam is embarked on opening up
its military to the outside world and assuming more proactive roles.

'The initiative is unprecedented and highly significant because it
signals not only a more outward-looking military, but a more confident
one.'

At a top-level briefing last month, defence attaches were told that the
decision to open up is linked to Vietnam's accession to the World Trade
Organisation and its coming membership of the United Nations Security
Council. Vietnam will take up a two-year seat as a non-permanent member
of
the council on Jan 1.

Lieutenant-General Pham Xuan Hung, the national defence academy's
commandant, said: 'Vietnam now attaches special importance to enhancing
international cooperation, exchange visits and mutual understanding in
the
military field.'

Said Mr Marvin Ott, professor of national security policy at the
National
Defence University in Washington: 'Vietnam's strategically savvy Defence

Ministry is now adopting a security strategy to maximise linkages with
other nations, particularly those with capable militaries in Asia.'

Several countries, including some from Asean, have already confirmed
they
will attend the course.

Vietnam's new military initiative will likely be replicated by more
outreach moves, including offers to take part in UN peacekeeping
operations and greater involvement in the multinational Proliferation
Security Initiative designed to thwart the maritime transportation of
terrorist devices.

mitton@sph.com.sg

92-day course

FOREIGN military officers will be invited to Hanoi for a 92-day course
at
the defence academy, which trains Vietnam's high-ranking commanders and
strategists, starting on March 4.

It will include three weeks of tutoring in key military topics such as
Vietnam's national defence policy, its security and anti-terrorism
strategy, and the protection of territorial sovereignty, including
'practical experiences in solving situations at sea'.

There will also be lectures on Vietnam's past military triumphs,
including
the liberation struggle against France and the reunification campaign
against US-led forces during the Vietnam War.

DSC_0034, originally uploaded by T4Thu.

We scored front-row seats to the fabulous semi-annual Busan International Fashion Show...