The aviation market in Vietnam is recovering faster than expected, with local airlines racing to recruit new employees and offering better salaries to their current staff.

Ton Khanh, an Airbus A321 co-pilot of national carrier Vietnam Airlines, said he has been busy again as his flight schedule was restored by 60-70 percent.

“Aside from domestic flights, I have been assigned more international flights,” Khanh elaborated.

“Even though the number of flight hours is still lower than before the pandemic, I am glad to be back in the sky and have a higher income.”

He hoped that the aviation market would continue to thrive thanks to an increase in travel demand during the upcoming summer.

A pilot of Vietnam Airlines currently flies about 30 to 40 hours per month, and the number is expected to increase to 70 hours in the foreseeable future.

The salary of pilots and flight attendants of budget carrier Vietjet has also recovered by 90-100 percent.

Aside from raising salaries, local airlines have been expediting their recruitment drives.

Nguyen Huynh Sang, a resident of Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City, said he had quit his office job and applied for a flight attendant position at Vietjet last month.

Sang has been hired and is now participating in a Vietjet training course.

According to Dang Ngoc Cuong, director of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, a total of six domestic carriers and 39 international airlines are operating at the airdrome.

Tan Son Nhat now serves more than 68,000 passengers, including 10,000 international travelers, on a daily basis, Cuong continued.

International flight frequency is gradually increasing, according to the allocation of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

The international aviation market will recover very quickly, said Nguyen Phuoc Thang, a CAAV official.

More passengers have been recorded at Tan Son Nhat’s international terminal after such foreign airlines as Qatar Airways, Emirates, and Asiana Airlines heightened their flight frequency from April, Thang stated.

Vu Thi Thanh Huong, head of Qatar Airways representative office in Vietnam and Cambodia, said that the airline will raise the frequency of the Ho Chi Minh City - Doha route to five flights a week from April 12.

South Korea’s Asiana Airlines has hiked the number of flights to Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Quoc to seven per week.

A spokesperson of Emirates said it has planned to boost the operation of commercial flights to and from Vietnam.

The Saigon Ground Service Service JSC (SAGS) believed that the aviation market has more room to grow this year after the pandemic was put under control, and countries applied more open immigration policies.

However, there are still some challenges brought about by rising gasoline prices and China’s zero-COVID policy, the firm added.

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