The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) of Vietnam, which holds 81 per cent of the shares in Jetstar Pacific Airlines, has asked the country’s Transport Ministry to overturn decisions by the Vietnam Civil Aviation Administration (VCAA) that deny the airline flight rights for 10 international destinations.
The airline itself has said VCAA’s refusal is groundless and contrary to JPA’s transport business licence.
VCAA has refused to grant rights to JPA to offer new international air routes to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand and Laos.
VCAA said the carrier is only permitted to fly to four already-licensed destinations: Bangkok (Thailand), Phnom Penh and Siem Reap (Cambodia) and Singapore.
JPA said that VCAA’s refusal is groundless because in its business licence, JPA is permitted to offer domestic and international air routes.
VCAA also told JPA it couldn’t use icons with the word “JET” and an orange star and “Jetstar – orange star”. The reason given by VCAA was that the licence the Transport Ministry granted to JPA on September 15, 2008 didn’t have regulations on icons.
In its petition to the Transport Ministry, JPA said the VCAA doesn’t have the authority to manage labels and intellectual property. It says permitting or not allowing a company to use a brand or label must be based on the Intellectual Property Law and be decided by competent agencies. Moreover, regulations on brands and labels are regulated by Intellectual Property Law, not Aviation Law.
Aircargo Asia Pacific