HANOI: Vietnam Airlines is seeking government help to keep it afloat, saying it could run out of money by as early as next month.
The national carrier said it needed several hundred million dollars in government credit to pay salaries and maintain its grounded fleet.
The airline's chief accountant, Tran Thanh Hien, said in a forum last week that the national carrier's coffers could be empty soon and it could fall into a "really bad" situation.
He said the airline expected to report a loss of between US$644 million and US$687 million this year.
A complete suspension of flights from late March to late April saw the carrier's fleet grounded, but it still had to pay several fees to park and maintain it.
According to VnExpress, it also had to pay nearly US$189 million from the middle of February to the end of March in refunds to passengers for cancelled flights.
The carrier's accountant said the company had done all it could to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, such as cutting staff salaries and asking many to go on unpaid leave, to reduce costs by US$193 million.
The airline was seeking to borrow between US$172 million and US$515 million from the government.
"We are not asking for an investment, we will pay back this sum," Hien said.
Vietnam Airlines also planned to issue more shares to existing shareholders to increase capital, but this could take five to six months.
State Capital Investment Corporation, a state-owned company set up by the government to utilise state investments, had recently expressed interest in pouring trillions of dong into Vietnam Airlines to restructure the company.
Last year, the airline saw its post-tax profit fall 2.4 per cent to US$109 million.