Vietnam Airlines, which carried more than 106,000 tonnes of freight in 2006, up 9.8 percent year-on-year, will be partially privatised next year, press reports in Vietnam said, citing the communist government.

Vietnam Airlines, one of the most profitable state-owned enterprises, will be privatised in 2008 under a decision signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung last month, the government said. Officials have said in the past that the government will maintain a controlling stake of up to 70 percent in the flagcarrier. The carrier, which last month joined the Geneva-based International Air Transport Association, maintains direct air links with 24 destinations world-wide and offers code-sharing flights to three others.