VNA is authorised to operate flights between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to several US destinations, possibly via intermediate points Taipei (Taiwan, China), Osaka and Nagoya (Japan), and the co-terminal points Los Angeles, San Francisco (California); New York (New York), Seattle (Washington) and Dallas/Ft. Worth (Texas). It also has permission for onward travel to Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto (Canada).

In addition, VNA is granted permission to serve routes from points behind Vietnam, via Vietnam or intermediate points, to 25 co-terminal US points on a codeshare basis. The permit also allows the carrier to operate charter flights between the two countries.

VNA is authorised to operate flights between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to several US destinations (Cre: Pexels).

VNA is the first and only airline in Vietnam to date to have received a Foreign Air Carrier Permit from the USDOT. The carrier still needs to obtain approvals from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) and other US authorities before officially launching services to the US.

Earlier this year, VNA and Delta Air Lines – the US’s second largest airline – signed a two-way codeshare agreement to expand their cooperation starting as of October 2019, allowing passengers to book a codeshare flight and complete flight formalities only once through either VNA or Delta Air Lines to fly to the US via Tokyo (Japan) or Frankfurt (Germany). It is the first move that VNA has made into the US market and will help passengers become accustomed to flying with VNA to the US.

In early 2019, the FAA granted Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) Category 1 status, setting the stage for Vietnam – US aviation cooperation. This is a technical prerequisite for Vietnamese airlines to set up direct services to the US and to cooperate with US carriers.

VNA is the first and only airline in Vietnam to date to have received a Foreign Air Carrier Permit from the USDOT (Cre: Vu Tuan).

The FAA continues to assess the capability of each airline in Vietnam following confirmation that CAAV had met the required standards. By obtaining the permit from the USDOT, VNA has affirmed its service excellence and the air operations safety of both the airline itself as well as Vietnamese aviation more generally.

Nguyen Mai Huong-COMM