Representatives of Vietnam Airlines said that it has cost them tens of billions of VND each month to reroute all flights which passed through Ukrainian airspace.
The national flagship carrier Vietnam Airlines is the only domestic airline with flights through the area. Deputy head of Vietnam Airlines Trinh Ngoc Thanh said that they began changing routes through Ukraine since March 12.
They were given permission to go through Belarus and were waiting for permission from other countries such as Turkey, Bulgaria and Hungary.
Representative of Vietnam Airlines also said that, because the new routes are longer, they are forced to forgo about 500kg of cargo to carry three more fuel. It is estimated that the monthly cost for the new routes will reach VND10 billion (USD476,000).
On July 17, they were forced to delay four flights to Germany, France and the UK that had paths through Ukraine. They eventually were cleared, but hours behind schedule.
"Because we've been preparing, the plan to schedule new routes to avoid Ukrainian airspace is progressing quickly," said a Vietnam Airlines.
