Vietnam Airlines : likely to make losses $604-$647 million this year - govt

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam Airlines will likely make losses of 14 trillion-15 trillion dong ($604-$647 million) this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government said on Thursday.

It would take up to three years for local airlines to fully recover from the pandemic, the government said in a statement on its website.

Last week, Vietnam's National Assembly, the country's lawmaking body, approved a government plan to boost the capital of the airlines, which reported a net loss of $453 million for the first nine months of this year.

The country's flag carrier is 86% owned by the government.

(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Toby Chopra)