Vietnam Airlines aims to start first US route in October

[reader]

From VN Express

Vietnam Airlines is planning to operate regular flights between Vietnam and the U.S. starting October, seeking to fulfill a dream of nearly two decades.

The state-owned carrier will use either Boeing 787 or Airbus SE A350 aircraft for its inaugural U.S. route from Ho Chi Minh City to San Francisco with one refueling stop, CEO Le Hong Ha told Bloomberg.

Since last year, the airline has been operating irregular charter flights to repatriate Vietnamese from the U.S. during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The airline will rely on transporting cargo to offset initial low passenger demand, Ha said.

https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/companies/vietnam-airlines-aims-to-start-first-us-route-in-october-4347333.html

 

[tm_nyc]

Interesting, although the refueling stop makes the VN service less attractive.  When the lockdowns in Vietnam are lifted & they start issuing visas to foreign tourists again, Vietnam Airlines might be an option to look at.

[vinapu]

On 8/27/2021 at 4:34 PM, tm_nyc said:

Interesting, although the refueling stop makes the VN service less attractive. 

not  necessarily, I found having a break on those 13+ hrs flights is quite welcomed of course of they let you leave aircraft to stretch.

[tm_nyc]

Vinapu, I guess that you are right!  All the other trans-Pacific flights from North America to SGN would involve a change in Hong Kong or Seoul/Incheon or Taipei, so a re-fueling stop amounts to the same thing.

[Lonnie]

On 8/27/2021 at 7:04 AM, reader said:

Vietnam Airlines

Companies

 

Vietnam Airlines ready for US direct route

By Dat Nguyen   September 21, 2021 | 04:41 pm GMT+7

A Vietnam Airlines aircraft is seen at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, September 9, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

Vietnam Airlines is set to receive its final permit from U.S. authorities to conduct regular direct flights to the U.S. after nearly two decades of preparation.

The national flag carrier has completed all necessary documents to be approved by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA), it stated.

It is set to receive the permit from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) soon. The airline did not specify a date.

Vietnam Airlines said the permit is different from that given earlier for international special charter flights between Vietnam and the U.S.

The carrier had earlier received permits to conduct 12 charter flights last year and another 12 this year.

Bamboo Airways had also received a permit to fly 12 charter flights to the U.S. from this month to November.

Last month, Bloomberg reported Vietnam Airlines was planning to operate regular flights between Vietnam and the U.S. starting October.

The airline in 2003 was ordered by the Ministry of Transport to begin direct services to the U.S. by 2005. However, concerns about profitability kept the carrier from realizing the goal until now.

[reader]

Once considered the queen of the east Asian skies, Cathay Pacific has been battered by civil unrest in Hong Kong and more recently by the Covid crisis. But according to the current edition of Aviation Week, the carrier plans to get into the low cost carrier (LCC) business with the launch of Greater Bay Airlines.

LLC's reportedly haven't made serious penetration into the HK market and CP sees an opportunity. Details, however, are sketchy at the moment.

In addition, CP plans to continue to operate HK Express with 28 A320 aircraft.

 

[PeterRS]

I have no idea how Cathay still exists! The quarantine regulations in Hong Kong have been so severe for such a long time its business has clearly been decimated. I see it has just announced that for the fourth quarter it will only be operating 13% of its pre-covid passenger capacity.

Thanks to its scheduling and excellent service (e.g. five daily JFK flights and five to London), it used to make a lot of its profit from first and business passengers on its many long haul routes. Much of that will have vanished. Pre covid it tried to raise some additional revenue by adding extra economy seats on its long haul 777s - from 9 across to 10 across. Having flown one of those aircraft, although thankfully only short haul, I would not be happy sitting in such cramped conditions on a New York or London flight.

I remember during the SARS epidemic, it was quick off the mark by sending quite a number of its planes to Australia and parked them in some desert area until business picked up again. I guess quite a lot of its fleet is presently parked down there.

Like Singapore Airlines, Cathay's biggest problem is that it has no domestic market. Every flight is international (assuming you count mainland China as international). Once Hong Kong finally opens up again, I expect front end travel will also pick up quickly. But since it already has HK Express, I simply cannot understand the rationale in opening up yet another LCC. Why not simply expand HK Express?