Vietnam Airlines to open flights to US

The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has been working on a plan to launch direct flights to the US to submit to the Prime Minister for approval soon, said an official from the airline.

The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has been working on a plan to launch direct flights to the US to submit to the Prime Minister for approval soon, said an official from the airline.

According to Vietnam Airlines Deputy General Director Pham Ngoc Minh, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung earlier asked the carrier to open direct flights to the US by the end of 2007 at the latest.

Minh said Vietnam Airlines in November sent a mission on a fact-finding tour to the US to discuss the plan with US partners.

However, Minh said, Asian carriers operating in the US market face a great difficulty in getting customers as US people have the habit of using only local carriers, and some are even loyal to only one in their whole life.

He said his airline plans to overcome the challenge by cooperating with US carriers to give flying points and other benefits to passengers flying on Vietnam Airlines flights like when they fly US carriers and vice versa.

The demands for flights between the two countries now have been sharply increasing as many US businesses eye Viet Nam as a top investment destination in Asia, in addition to a great number of overseas Vietnamese in the US who travel to the homeland every year.

(Source: VNA)