Vietnamese airlines cleared for take-off on direct flights to US, a further shot in the arm for aviation boom
- There are currently no non-stop flights between the two countries, despite a large market catering to tourism and visits by friends and relatives
- Vietnam is projected to be among the world’s top five fastest-growing air travel markets in the next 20 years
The US aviation safety agency said it was awarding Vietnam a “Category 1” rating two weeks after it was reported the decision was expected.
There are currently no non-stop flights between the two countries, despite a large market catering to tourism and visits by friends and relatives.
Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways have both expressed the desire to fly to the US, but were unable to do so until the Southeast Asian nation received the Category 1 rating.
Bamboo Airways received its aviation licence in November and began commercial flights in January.
The carrier initially flies 37 domestic routes, but will expand this year to Japan, Korea and Singapore – and perhaps the US, in light of the FAA ruling.
Vietnam Airlines may be better equipped to launch direct flights to the US: it already flies to London, Paris, Frankfurt, Moscow, Sydney and Melbourne.
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Dinh Viet Thang, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, said direct routes to the US would create a range of new opportunities for Vietnamese airlines.
“Non-stop flights from Vietnam to the US will be a brand new market full of potential for local airlines, as no international airline has operated them so far,” he told VN Express, a Vietnamese newspaper.
The FAA said the decision means Vietnam complies with international safety standards “and has been granted a Category 1 rating under the agency’s International Aviation Safety Assessment programme”.
“Vietnamese air carriers that are able to secure the requisite FAA and DOT [Department of Transportation] authority can establish service to the United States and carry the code of US carriers,” the agency said.
“This will be a short in the arm for the Vietnamese aviation industry, including the MRO industry, as it would indicate that Vietnamese aircraft would have met the stringent maintenance criteria set by the FAA. It should also increase travel demand to and from Ho Chi Minh city and the airport could potentially develop into a hub,” K Ajith, Director, Asia Transport Research said.
Why are so many South Korean tourists visiting Vietnam?
US tourists to Vietnam increased 11.9 per cent from 2017 to 2018, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. There are also more than 2.1 million Vietnamese living in the US.
By 2035, Vietnam will have 150 million airline passengers per year, according to a 20-year forecast from the IATA.
Southeast Asian airlines have meanwhile been competing to stake their claim on the lucrative US market. Singapore Airlines operates the world’s longest non-stop flight between the city state and New York. It also flies direct to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and will launch a direct service to Seattle next month.
Thailand is waiting for a final round of inspections from the US Federal Aviation Administration to determine if it can regain its Category 1 status that would allow it to resume flights to the United States. It lost its US air safety rating in 2015 after concerns were raised about whether authorities could properly supervise the nation’s booming aviation sector.
The inspections should take place within the first half the year. Last year, Krittaphon Chantalitanon, vice president of alliances and commercial strategy at Thai Airways told the Post that if the carrier relaunched flights to the US, it would not just be limited to Los Angeles. It used to operate flights to New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington.
Malaysia Airlines also harbours ambitions to resume flights to the United States but the loss-making airline says it has to focus on its core business for now.
“Our ambition is not North America for now,” said Izham Ismail, the airline’s CEO, in October.
“Our focus is Asia Pacific to make it financially strong. Only then will we look at a timeframe of five years and beyond.”
Additional reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg
