VIET NAM GUIDE

Ha Long Bay rolls in New Open World’s poll

Ha Long Bay was declared one of the 25 most wonderful seascapes in the world on the website of NewOpenWorld on May 25. The bay joins Cox’s Bazaar beach of Bangladesh, the Great Barrier Reef of Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Entering the second phase of the NewOpenWorld’s poll of the seven new world natural wonders are 261 sites. They are divided into seven groups: Group A for extensive natural landscapes; Group B for islands; Group C for mountains and volcanoes; Group D for caves, stone mountains and valleys; Group E for forests, national parks, natural reserves; Group F for lakes, rivers, waterfalls; Group G for sea landscapes and beaches.

In this phase, participating countries have only one landscape in the poll, excepting sites that lie in multiple countries.

In July this year, a vote will be held to choose 77 of the 261. The organising board will then choose 21 before selecting the new seven wonders.

The steering board for voting for Ha Long Bay is encouraging people to vote for the site, which has been selected twice by UNESCO as a world natural heritage.

Source: VietNamNet/TP

Vietnam Airlines ready for new passenger service system

Vietnam Airlines has announced that passengers should arrive at the airport two hours before departure for domestic flights and three hours before departure of international flights from May 16 to May 20 as the national flag carrier will be introducing a new technologically advanced passenger service system to facilitate bookings, reservations, check-in, and changes of itineraries and departure dates.

Vu Nguyen Khoi, deputy director of the airlines management center, told the Daily on Thursday that the new system had been tested and would be put into service on Saturday. It would enable Vietnam Airlines to better process information.

The new system was developed by the U.S. firm Sabre Airlines Solutions, a world leading provider of integrated solutions and services for airlines and airports. This system is being used by American Airlines, Gulf Air and Aeroflot.

Vietnam Airline’s new website, www.vietnamairlines.com, has made it possible to buy tickets with a credit card without having to go to a ticket office. The online payment service will be expanded to holders of Vietcombank Connect24 of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam and Techcombank Fast Access of the Vietnam Technological Commercial Joint Stock Bank.

Vietnam Airlines aims to become a leader in the region and is in the process of becoming a member of SkyTeam, the world’s second largest alliance of airlines after STAR Alliance.

The carrier has ordered a number Boeing B787s and Airbus A350s to expand its fleet from 58 to 104 aircraft by 2015.