Vietnam airlines gains access to the United States

Vietnamese airlines will be able to fly to the US after it complies with international safety standards.

Vietnamese airlines will be able to fly to the United States and codeshare with American carriers after the US Federal Aviation Administration declared the South-East Asian country complies with international safety standards.

The US aviation safety agency said in a statement that it was awarding Vietnam a “Category 1” rating.

“It’s recognition by a very developed aviation authority which requires a very high standard of safety and security,” Vietnamese Deputy Transportation Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong said.

There are currently no non-stop flights between Vietnam and the United States, despite a large market catering to tourism and visits by friends and relatives. Vietnam Airlines JSC , Bamboo Airways and VietJet Aviation JSC desire to fly to the United States.

Bamboo Airways Chairman Trinh Van Quyet said Bamboo was considering destinations such as Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with the first route to open in late 2020 or early 2021. His airline has ordered 20 Boeing Co 787s for long-haul flights.

CAPA Centre for Aviation Chief Analyst Brendan Sobie said the FAA rating was important for Vietnam symbolically and politically.

But he said Vietnamese airlines could struggle to make US flights profitable because of the lack of demand from high-paying business travellers.

“For Vietnam Airlines, launching routes to the US is our political responsibility as a national airline. Whether or not the route is commercially feasible depends quite a lot on technical issues and aircraft,” the airline said in a statement.

Vietnam Airlines said it was in talks with Airbus and Boeing about potential jet purchases for the US route, but the earliest they were expected to arrive was in 2022.

In the meantime its existing codeshares with Delta Air Lines could be expanded after the rating.