China Airlines News Network: After announcing that Southeast Asian countries meet international flight safety standards, Vietnam Airlines will open routes to the United States and realize flight code sharing with American Airlines.
Just last year, FAA sent a team to Vietnam for security assessment. Subsequently, in a statement, it said that Vietnam would be rated as "Level 1". However, just two weeks after the statement was issued, Reuters reported that the decision was expected.
Vietnam government data shows that from 2010 to 2017, the Vietnamese aviation market showed rapid growth, with an average annual increase of 16%. Meanwhile, after the statement was issued, Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said that this is a very developed country with very high safety and security requirements.
Although Vietnam has a large airline market, there are currently no direct flights between Vietnam and the United States to meet the needs of travel and friends and relatives between the United States and Vietnam. Therefore, Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airways and Vietjet Airways and Vietjet Airways are very eager to open routes to the United States.
Data map: Vietnam Airlines supply company
Bamboo Airways Chairman Trinh Van Quyet said that Bamboo is considering using Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco as destinations for aircraft landing, and the first route is expected to be opened by the end of 2020 or early 2021. Meanwhile, Bamboo Airways ordered 20 Boeing 787 aircraft for the upcoming route for long-distance flights. Brendan Sobie, chief analyst at
CAPA Aviation Center, said that the FAA rating has important symbolic and political significance to Vietnam. But he also said that due to the lack of demand from high-income business travelers, Vietnam Airlines may struggle to make flights on this route profitable. However, for Vietnam Airlines, opening a route to the United States is a political responsibility as a state-owned airline.
It is reported that Vietnam Airlines is negotiating with Airbus and Boeing on the possibility of how much aircraft it needs to be ordered on this US route. Meanwhile, after Vietnam gets ratings, the existing flight code system of Delta Air Lines in the United States may be shared with Vietnam.
Vietnamese low-cost airline Vietjet Airways said it plans to purchase wide-body passenger planes that can achieve direct flights in the United States and believes that the company's experience in reducing the cost of aircraft purchase will provide an effective business model for the Vietnamese aviation industry. "We plan to open routes to and from cities between the United States and Vietnam to meet the huge tourism and commercial needs from our customers," said Viet Jet Airways vice president in a statement. (Translated by: Zhang Xiaodan)
