Vietnam to cut domestic flights over jet fuel shortage

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SINGAPORE: Vietnam's national air carrier will suspend nearly two dozen domestic flights a week starting next month because of limited fuel supplies caused by the Middle East war, the nation's aviation authority has said.

The price of jet fuel has soared since the start of the conflict more than three weeks ago, which has sent oil prices soaring and sparked fears of fuel shortages.

"Vietnam Airlines plans to temporarily suspend operations on several routes from Apr 1," totalling 23 flights a week, the country's civil aviation authority said in a statement late on Monday (Mar 23).

"The limited supply of aviation fuel (Jet A-1) due to the conflict in the Middle East has put domestic airlines at risk of fuel shortages," prompting the flight cuts, the authority said.

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Major domestic routes and international flights are being maintained, it said.

Airlines in Vietnam were working on adding fuel surcharges on international routes that may be applied in April, it added.

Vietnam has recently asked for fuel support from several countries, including Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria and Japan, and on Monday signed a deal with Russia on oil and gas production in both countries.

Elsewhere in the region, Myanmar's national carrier announced on Sunday that it would also cancel some domestic flights "due to unavoidable circumstances", without providing details.

United Airlines said last week that it was scaling back its flight capacities because of the rising cost of jet fuel, which the US airline anticipated would keep surging as the war in the Gulf continues.

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