Circular No. 21/2020/TT-BGTVT amending some Circulars on airway transportation

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Circular No. 81/2014/TT-BGTVT dated December 30, 2014 of the Minister of Transport on airway transportation and general aviation operation, and the Circular No.14/2015/TT-BGTVT dated April 27, 2015 of the Minister of Transport on compensation for non-refundable advance of passenger transport by air and the Circular No.33/2016/TT-BGTVT dated November 25, 2016 of the Minister of Transport on operational and statistical report in Vietnam Civil Aviation

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Pursuant to Law on Viet Nam Civil Aviation No. 66/2006/QH11 dated June 29, 2006 and Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Viet Nam Civil Aviation No. 61/2014/QH13 dated November 21, 2014;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 30/2013/ND-CP dated April 8, 2013 on airway transportation business and general aviation operation;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 66/2015/ND-CP dated August 12, 2015 on Aviation Authorities;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 92/2016/ND-CP dated July 1, 2016 on conditional business sectors in civil aviation;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 12/2017/ND-CP dated February 10, 2017 on functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Transport;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 89/2019/ND dated November 15, 2019 on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 92/2016/ND-CP dated July 1, 2016 on conditional business sectors in civil aviation and the Decree No. 30/2013/ND-CP dated April 8, 2013 on airway transport business and general aviation operation;

At therequest of the Director General of Department of Transport and the Director of Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam, the Minister of Transport hereby issues the Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Circular No. 81/2014/TT-BGTVT dated December 30, 2014 of Minister of Transport on Airway transportation and General aviation operation (hereinafter referred to as “the Circular No. 81/2014/TT-BGTVT dated December 30, 2014”), the Circular No. 14/2015/TT-BGTVT  dated April 27, 2015 of the Minister of Transport on compensation for non-refundable advance of passenger transport by air (hereinafter referred to as “the Circular No. 14/2015/TT-BGTVT   dated April 27, 2015”)  and the Circular No. 33/2016/TT-BGTVT dated November 25, 2016 of the Minister of Transport on Operational and statistical report in Viet Nam Civil Aviation (hereinafter referred to as “the Circular No. 33/2016/TT-BGTVT dated November 15, 2016”).

Article 1. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Circular No.81/2014/TT-BGTVTdated December 30, 2014 as follows:

“1. To amend Point c and Point d, Clause 1 of Article 1 as follows:

c) The issuance, re-issuance, revocation of Licenses for the establishment of Representative offices and Booking offices of foreign airlines in Viet Nam;

d) The issuance or revocation of Certificates of registration for Secondary air waybill”;

2. To amend and supplement Article 3 as follows:

“Article 3. Operational flight plan of enterprises engaged in airway transportation (hereinafter referred to as an airline) and Vietnameseenterprises engaged in general aviation business

1. Airlines and general aviation enterprises shall be responsible for developing their annual (from January 1 to December 31), medium-term (5 years), and long-term (10 years or more) operational plans for their aircraft fleets to carry out air transportation and general aviation activities in Viet Nam.

2. The operational plan for aircraft fleets of an airline or a general aviation enterprise must contain the following contents:

a) Forecasts about demand of domestic and international air transportation market, and each flight route that the airline intends to operate;

b) The projected flight route network; transportation volume and rotation (passengers, goods); load factor; the airline’s market share in the international and domestic markets and on each flight route;

c) The number by type of aircraft expected to operate the entire network; the type of aircraft expected to operate on each airline s route;

d) Plans to ensure resources (human, finance) for aircraft fleet operation and maintenance.

3. In cases where the contents of an operational plan for aircraft fleets specified in this Article are amended or supplemented, the enterprise must report to the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam within 30 days from the date on which such enterprise decides on the amendment or supplement of the plan.

4. Airlines and general aviation enterprises shall be responsible for reporting their operational plan for aircraft fleets to the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam, the details of such report shall be as follows:

a) Name of the report: Operational plan for aircraft fleets;

b) Contents of report: contents specified in Clause 2 of this Article;

c) Methods of sending and receiving reports: reports shall be made in the written or electronic form, and might be submitted directly, by post, fax or other appropriate forms as prescribed by law provisions;

d) Deadline for the submission of report: annually November 01 of the year preceding the planned year (for annual plans) and 60 days prior to the expected effective date of the plan (for medium and long-term plans).

dd)Figure conclusion date: to October 31 of the year preceding the planned year;

e)Outline form of the report: in accordance with the provisions in Appendix XV issued together with this Circular”.

3. To amend Article 6 as follows:

“Article 6. Promulgating the Air Transport Regulation

Airlines shall be responsible for developing, registering and promulgating their Air Transport Regulation. The Air Transport Regulation must include contents on the rights and obligations of the carrier, the rights and obligations of passengers in accordance with law provisions".

4. To amend and supplement Clauses 1, 3 and 5 of Article 8 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 8 as follows:

"1. A delayed flight means a flight whose actual departure time (counted from the time of aircraft withdrawal) is 15 minutes behind scheduled take-off time according to the referred flight schedule. The referred flight schedule is the last version of the airline s daily flight schedule updated to the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam, the Airports Authority, and relevant regional flight management companies no later than 10:00 pm Hanoi time (15h00 UTC) of the day preceding that of the departure.”

b) To amend and supplement Clause 3 of Article 8 as follows:

“3. A canceled flight means a flight not being conducted in accordance with the airline s cancellation schedule.”;

c) To amend and supplement Clause 5 of Article 8 as follows:

“5. An early departure flight means a flight whose actual departure time (counting from the time of aircraft withdrawal) is earlier than the scheduled takeoff time in accordance with the referred flight schedule.’

5. To amend and supplement Article 10 as follows:

“Article 10. Procedures for the issuance, re-issuance, revocation of Licenses for establishment of Representative offices and Booking offices of foreign airlines in Viet Nam

1. Foreign airline applying for the issuance of the License must submit 01 set of dossiers in person or by postal service or by other appropriate means to the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam and must be responsible for the contents of such dossiers. The set of dossiers must include:

a) The written application form made in accordance with the form specified in Appendix III issued together with this Circular;

b) Copies of the License for establishment, or the Certificate for enterprise registration or other equivalent documents of the airline (in Vietnamese or English);

c) Copies of the Operation regulation of the airline (in Vietnamese or English);

d) Copies of documents verifying the right use the offices where the representative offices and ticket offices are based in Viet Nam;

dd) Copies from master registers, copies and master registers for comparison (in case of in-person submission), or certified copies (in case of submission by postal service) - of documents assigning heads of Representative offices and Booking offices (in Vietnamese or English).

2. Within 05 working days from the date on which a complete application is received, the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam shall be responsible for evaluating and issuing the License made in accordance with the form specified in Appendix XIII issued together with this Circular, in case of rejection of license issuance, the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam must clearly state the reasons in written form.

In cases where the dossier applying for the license issuance is inadequate as prescribed by the law, within 02 working days from the date on which the application is received, the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam must send a written request to such airline to revise the application dossier and the time duration for processing the application dossier shall be counted from the date on which an adequate application dossier is received.

3. The License for establishment of Representative offices and Booking offices shall take effect from date of signing and shall expire due to revocation in cases of violating regulations specified in Clause 5 of Article 123 of Law on Viet Nam Civil Aviation or at request of such airline.

4. In cases where there are any changes in the issued License for establishment of Representative offices and Booking offices, the foreign airline shall submit 01 application dossier for the re-issuance of the License for establishment of Representative offices and Booking offices to the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam in person or by post or by other appropriate means, and shall be responsible for the contents specified in such dossier.

a) The dossier shall include: An application form made in accordance with the form specified in Appendix IV issued together with this Circular and documents related to the modification made in Vietnamese or English.

b) Within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the complete application dossier as prescribed by the law, the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam shall verify the application dossier and re-issue the License made in accordance with the form specified in Appendix XIII issued together with this Circular;

In cases where the application dossier for re-issuance of the License is incomplete as prescribed by the law, within 02 working days from the date of receipt, the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam shall send a written request to such airline to complete the application dossier, and the time duration for processing the application dossier shall be counted from the date of receipt of the complete application dossier.

5. Airlines applying for the issuance or re-issuance of the License for establishment of Representative offices and Booking offices shall pay fees in accordance with law provisions;

6. Airlines applying for the re-issuance of the License which is damaged, or lost shall conduct the procedures specified in Clause 4 of this Article.

7. In cases where the License is revoked, the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam shall issue a decision on the revocation of the License and the airline must immediately terminate the operation of such Representative offices and Booking offices.”.

6. To annul Article 11.

7. To amend and supplement Article 12 as follows:

“Article 12. Notification and report on the operation of Representative offices and Booking offices of foreign airlines in Viet Nam

1. Within 60 days from the date on which the License is issued, Representative offices and Booking offices of a foreign airline are obliged to inform Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam of their operations in written form, or in electronic form or by fax using the form specified in Appendix VI issued together with this Circular. The airline must be responsible for the accuracy and truthfulness of the notice on operation.

2. Within 45 days from the date on which the License is issued, Representative offices and Booking offices must operate registered offices and must post the following contents on a newspaper, which is permissible for circulation in Viet Nam, for 3 consecutive issues:

a) Name and address of Representative offices and Booking offices;

b) Name and address of the Head office of the foreign airline;

c) Heads of Representative offices and Booking offices;

d) List of foreign workers (name, citizenship, passport number and valid work permit (if any);

dd) Number, date of issuance and time duration of the License;

e) Operational contents of such Representative offices and Booking offices.

3. In case where there are changes to the personnel who are foreigners, such Representative offices and Booking offices shall be responsible for informing the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam of such changes within 10 days from the date of the afore-stated changes.

4. Representative offices and Booking offices shall be responsible for reporting annually to the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam about their operation and must be responsible for the truthfulness and accuracy of the report contents, specifically:

a) Name of the report: Operational report of Representative offices and Booking offices of the foreign airline in Viet Nam;

b) Report contents: information on Representative offices and Booking offices; operation of Representative offices and Booking offices; general assessment and recommendations;

c) Methods of submitting and receiving reports: such reports might be made in written or electronic form, sent in person, by postal services, fax or any other appropriate means in accordance with law provisions;

d) Figure conclusion date: before January 1 to December 31 of the reporting year;

dd) Deadline for report submission: before January 31 of the year preceding the reporting year;

e) Outline form for the report: in accordance with the Appendix VII issued together with this Circular.”.

8. To amend and supplement Article 13 as follows:

“Article13.Terminating operation of Representative offices and Booking offices of foreign airlines in Viet Nam

1.Operation of Representative offices and Booking offices shall be terminated in the following cases:

a) At the request ofthe foreign airline;

b)The foreign airline terminates its operation in accordance with law provisions of the country where such airline is established or registers for business operation;

c)The License for establishment of Representative offices and Booking offices is revoked in accordance with regulations specified in Clause 5, Article 123 of the Law on Viet Nam Civil Aviation

2.Within 30 days before the date on which the operation is expected to be terminated in accordance with provisions at Point a and Point b, Clause 1 of this Article, Representative offices and Booking offices must send a written notice on the termination of operation made in accordance with the form specified in Appendix VIII issued together with this Circular to the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam,creditors, workers and other individuals who have relevant rights, obligations and interests. The notice must specify the expected date of terminating operation and must be posted publicly at the head office of Representative offices and Booking offices and on a newspaper permissible for circulation in Viet Nam for 3 consecutive issues.

3.Foreign airlines, Representative offices and Booking offices shall be responsible for fulfilling debt obligations and other obligations with relevant organizations and individuals in accordance with law provisions.”.

9.To amend and supplement Article14as follows:

“Article14.Procedures for registration of secondary air waybill issuance

1.Vietnamese enterprises shall send 01 set of dossiers applying for secondary air waybill issuance by person, by postal services, or by any other appropriate means to the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam and must be responsible for information specified in such dossiers. The dossiers shall include:

a)The application form made in accordance with the form specified in Appendix IX issued together with this Circular;

b)Copies from the master registers, copies and master registers for comparison or certified copies (in case of online submission), certified copies (in case of submission by postal services) of the Certificate for enterprise registration;

c)Copies of the form of secondary air waybill of the consigning enterprise.

2.Vietnamese enterprises registering for air waybill issuance of foreign consigning enterprises shall send 01 set of dossiers applying for secondary air waybill issuance by person, by postal services, or by any other appropriate means tothe Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam and must be responsible for information specified in such dossiers. The dossiers shall include:

a)The application form made in accordance with the form specified in Appendix X issued together with this Circular;

b)Copies from the master registers, copies and master registers for comparison or certified copies (in case of online submission), certified copies (in case of submission by postal services) of the Certificate for enterprise registration;

c)Copies of the form of secondary air waybill of the foreign consigning enterprise;

d) Copies of the Certificate for enterprise registration or other equivalent documents of the foreign consigning enterprise.

3.Within 5 working days from the date on which a complete set of dossiers is received, the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam shall be responsible for evaluating and issuing the Certificate for registration made in accordance with the form specified in Appendix XIV issued together with this Circular, in case of refusing to issue such Certificate, the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam must clearly state the reasons in writing.

In cases where the set of dossiers is incomplete as prescribed by the law, within 2 working days from the date on which such dossiers are received, the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam shall send written request to the enterprise to complete the dossiers and the time duration for processing such dossiers shall be counted from the date on which a complete set of dossiersis received.

4.Enterprises applying for the Certificate for registration of secondary air waybill issuance shall pay the fees as prescribed by the law;

5.The Certificate for registration of secondary air waybill issuance issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam shall take effect from the date of signing and shall be revoked in any of the following cases:

a) At the request of the enterprise;

b)Enterprises terminating its operation for 6 consecutive months without informing the agency in charge of issuing the Certificate.

6.In cases where the Certificate is revoked, the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam shall issue a decision on the revocation of the Certificate and the enterprise must immediately their registration for secondary air waybill issuance in accordance with the issued Certificate.”.

10.To annul AppendixV issued together withthe Circular No.81/2014/TT-BGTVTdated December 30, 2014.

11.To replace AppendicesIV, VI, VII, IX, X issued together withthe Circular No.81/2014/TT-BGTVTdated December 30, 2014 by AppendicesI, II, III, IV, Vrespectively which areissued together withthis Circular.

12.To supplement AppendicesXIII, XIV, XVinto the Circular No.81/2014/TT-BGTVTdated December 30, 2014 corresponding to AppendicesVI, VII, VIII issued together withthis Circular.

Article2. Amending and supplementing a number ofarticles of the Circular No.14/2015/TT-BGTVTdated April 27, 2015as follows:

1.To amend and supplement Article4as follows:

“Article4.Obligations of the carrier

1.To compensate for non-refundable advance for passengers having tickets and confirmed seats on flights with the amount of compensation specified in Article 8 of this Circular in case of refusal of transportation, cancelled flight or delayed flight, except for cases exempted from liability specified in Article 5, Article 6 and Article 7 of this Circular.

2.To publicize on the website of the carrier, at airports, Representative offices and Booking offices and the carrier’s network of ticket agencies on cases eligible for compensation for non-refundable advance, the amount of compensation, detailed methods and time duration for compensation, and specific venue for compensation.

3.To provide information for Airports Authorities, Airport enterprises, Service providers at passenger terminals on reasons for cancelled flights and delayed flights immediately after there are decisions on cancellation or after detecting delayed flights to supervise and update on the information system of airports and aerodromes.

4.Within 72 hours from the time of expected take off (in case of cancelled flights) or the time of actual take-off (in case of flights in which there are customers refused to transport or delayed flights) or irregularly at request of the Airports Authority, airlines must be responsible for reporting to the Airports Authority about compensating for non-refundable advance of flights as follows:

a)Name of the report: Report onthecompensation for non-refundableadvance forpassengers refused to transportand having cancelled flights;

b)Report contents: information onthe airline’sflights, information onpassengers refused to transport,customershavingcancelled flights and solutions of the airline;

c) Methods of submitting and receiving reports:reports shall be made in the written or electronic form, and shall be submitted directly, by post, fax or other appropriate forms as prescribed by law provisions;

d)Outline form of the report: in accordance with Appendix Iissued together withthis Circular.

5.To receive and handle with denunciations of passengers refused to transport or having delayed or cancelled flights in a timely manner.

6.To record contact information provided by passengers, including mobile phone number, landline number, email or number of relatives in case of contact failure to provide information on cancelled flights and delayed flights 24 hours prior to the expected take-off time and create the basis for obligation exemption specified in Clause 1, Article 7 of this Circular.”.

2.To amend and supplement Article13as follows:

“Article13.Responsibilities oftheAirports Authority

1.To publicize the length of air routes and regulations specified in this Circular at airports.

2.To conduct examination, supervision and handling, within their competence, on the carrier’s execution of obligations in cases of passengers refused to transport, having cancelled or delayed flights of the carrier in accordance with this Circular.

3.To submit reports on supervising the compensation for non-refundable advance of airlines to the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam on a monthly basis or onanirregular basis upon request.

The monthly report on supervising the compensation for non-refundable advance of airlines shall include the following contents:

a)Name of the report: Report onsupervising the compensation for non-refundable advance of airlines;

b)Report contents: information onairlines, flights (number, route), date of flight, number of passengers subject to compensation, method of compensation, information of passengers receiving compensation and other information (if any);

c) Methods of submitting and receiving reports:reports shall be made in the written or electronic form, and shall be submitted directly, by post, fax or other appropriate forms as prescribed by law provisions;

d) Deadline for report submission: before the 10^thof the following month;

dd) Figure conclusion date: from the 1^stday to the last day of the month;

e) Outline form of the report: in accordance with the provisions in Appendix II issued together with this Circular”.

3. To replace the Appendix issued together with the Circular No. 14/2015/TT-BGTVT dated April 27, 2015 by the corresponding Appendix IX issued together with this Circular.

4.To supplement Appendix II into the Circular No.14/2015/TT-BGTVTdated April 27, 2015 in correspondence to the Appendix Xissued together withthis Circular.

Article3.Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Circular No.33/2016/TT-BGTVTdated November 15, 2016as follows:

1.To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 2, Article 4 as follows:

“a) (Weekly) reports on figures of transportation of each flight, actual take-off time and landing time of each flight in airports and aerodromes shall be made in accordance with the Form CV-1 of the Appendix issued together with this Circular, such reports shall include figures from Wednesday of the previous week to Tuesday of the current week and shall be submitted before 10 a.m. each Thursday;”.

2.To annul Point g, Clause 3, Article 4.

3.To replace the FormsCV-1andQLB-6 issued together withthe Circular No.33/2016/TT-BGTVTdated November 15, 2016 by the corresponding Appendices XI, XIIissued together withthis Circular.

4.To annul the FormQLB-7 issued together withthe Circular No.33/2016/TT-BGTVTdated November 15, 2016.

Article4.Implementation provisions

1.This Circular shall take effect from November 15, 2020.

2.This Circular shall annul:

a) The Circular No. 52/2018/TT-BGTVTdated October 15, 2018 of the Minister of Transport amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Circular No.81/2014/TT-BGTVTdated December 30, 2014 on airway transportation and general aviation operation;

b) Clause 2, Article 2 of the Circular No.27/2017/TT-BGTVTdated August 25, 2017 of the Minister of Transport amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Circular No.36/2014/TT-BGTVTdated August 29, 2014 prescribing quality for passenger services at airports and the Circular No.14/2015/TT-BGTVTdated April 27, 2015 of the Minister of Transport dated April 27, 2015 prescribingcompensation for non-refundable advance of passenger transport by air.

3.Chief of the Ministry Office, ministerial Chief Inspectors, directors, Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam, heads of agencies, relevant organizations and individuals shall be responsible for the implementation of this Circular./.

For the Minister

Deputy Minister

Le Anh Tuan

* All Appendices are not translated herein.