Vietnam Airlines Group has today announced a profit of VND2.8 trillion (£95 million) for financial 2018.

Growth over the year was based on robust demand for air travel, optimised operational efficiency and the implementation of market-driven solutions to combat high fuel prices, the airline said.

For the first time, Vietnam Airlines and its member airlines (including Jetstar Pacific and VASCO) exceeded the VND100 trillion mark in total consolidated revenue, generating approximately VND102 trillion.

Pre-tax profit reached VND2.8 trillion, exceeding the expected figure by 15 per cent. 

Reflecting on the year, Duong Tri Thanh, president, Vietnam Airlines, said: “Vietnam Airlines’ strong earnings performance capped another year of extraordinary achievement, including surpassing the VND2 trillion mark in profit.

“We made significant progress on several key initiatives in 2018 including improved human resources management, enhanced product portfolio and on-time-performance index.”

In addition to the positive financial result, Vietnam Airlines has carried over 22 million passengers on 142,000 flights and 350,000 tons of cargo in 2018.

The airline made significant progress in modernising the fleet and investing in technology with two wide-bodies Airbus A350 and three narrow-bodies A321Neo.

During the year, Vietnam Airlines was also recognised as the World’s Leading Cultural Airline by voters at the World Travel Awards.