Vietnam Airlines inaugurated its first non-stop flight to the United States on November 29, marking a milestone in the history of the Vietnamese state-owned airline.
🇻🇳 An historic moment for @VietnamAirlines at SFO! On November 28, 2021 Vietnam Airlines first commercial nonstop flight arrived from Ho Chi Minh City (SGN). The first departure from SFO to SGN will takeoff tonight, November 29, 2021. @Boeing pic.twitter.com/NqGXFSN5G1
— San Francisco International Airport (SFO) ✈️ (@flySFO) November 30, 2021
The inaugural flight, VN98, departed from Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) to San Francisco (SFO) operated on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner configured with 28 seats in business class, 35 seats in premium economy class, and 211 seats in economy class.
Vietnam Airlines becomes the first carrier with scheduled non-stop flights between Vietnam and the United States, after having tried since early 2000.
The last airline with commercial flights between the two countries was United Airlines, which operated to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) but via Hong Kong (HKG), where it offered connections from its flights to San Francisco (SFO) and Chicago O’ Hare (ORD). Figures obtained by Aviacionline through the Cirium platform, indicate that during 2004 and 2011 the route was operated by Boeing 747-400 aircraft, then between 2012 until the route’s cessation in 2016 it changed equipment to Boeing 737-800 Next Generation (on the intra-Asia leg).
“We are extremely pleased to announce the successful direct commercial flight to the United States, which marks a new milestone for Vietnam Airlines in particular and Vietnam aviation in general,” said Le Hong Ha, President, and CEO of Vietnam Airlines.
“We are honored to be the first airport in the United States to offer non-stop scheduled flights to Vietnam. Our new service truly makes San Francisco Airport the premier gateway airport to the United States, and we are proud to offer a world-class experience with seamless access throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. We are grateful to Vietnam Airlines for making San Francisco its first destination in the United States, and we are confident that this new service will be a success,” said Ivar C. Satero, San Francisco Airport Director.
Vietnam Airlines will initially operate two flights per week on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and Airbus A350-900 aircraft, the latter configured with 29 seats in business class, 36 in premium economy class, and 240 in economy class.
Scheduled to increase to 7 weekly flights when health conditions permit, the airline plans to add a new route between Ho Chi Ming City (SGN) and Los Angeles (LAX). It also plans to expand its North American network to destinations in Canada.
Numbers obtained by OAG Traffic Analyzer show that around 1.21 million passengers flew in 2016 from Vietnam to the U.S. via connections from other hubs, making it one of the most underserved international markets in Asia, and 138,242 visitors in 2017 flew from Canada to Vietnam via stopovers.
The Vietnam – North America market is strongly dominated by other Asia – Pacific carriers such as Korean Air, Cathay Pacific, All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, and EVA Air which through their hubs absorb all demand between the two nations.
