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| Founded | 1976 | |||
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| Hubs | Wattay International Airport | |||
| Focus cities | Luang Prabang International Airport | |||
| Fleet size | 10 (+4 orders) | |||
| Destinations | 15 | |||
| Headquarters | Vientiane, Laos | |||
| Key people | Dr Somphone Douangdara (President) | |||
| Website | laoairlines.com | |||
Lao Airlines (Lao: ການບິນລາວ) is an airline based in Vientiane, Laos.[1] It is the national airline of Laos, operating domestic services to ten destinations and international services to Cambodia, China, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. Its main base is Wattay International Airport, Vientiane.[2]
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The airline was established and started operations in September 1976 as Lao Aviation. Lately of 1990s, China Yunnan Airlines shared holder with Lao government. Until early of 2000s, Lao Airlines changed to be 100% owned by Lao government and the name was changed to Lao Airlines in early 2003. It is wholly owned by the government of Laos.[2]
Flying mainly to small airfields in mountainous, tropical Laos, the airline acquired a not-too-favorable reputation for safety, several flights being lost over the years. More recently, with better aircraft and airfields, this reputation has been overcome. Since 2000, there have not been any accidents involving Lao Airlines. Reliability is now complying to international standards with ATR 72 and Chinese-made Xian MA60 aircraft. In 2007 and 2008, the company received the International Arch of Europe Award.[3][4] On 8 November 2011, Lao Airlines has taken delivery of the first of two Airbus A320 aircraft ordered from Airbus. The second Airbus A320 is scheduled to arrive in December 2011. The A320s are the first jet aircraft to be purchased by Lao Airlines and feature a two class layout seating of 126 passengers in the main cabin and 16 in Business Class. The aircraft are powered by CFM56 engines from CFM International.[5]
As of July 2011, Lao Airlines operates scheduled flights to the following destinations:[6]
Lao Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines: