Vietnam Airlines celebrates 20 years of Vietnam-France direct routes

ABO/NDO- National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines held a ceremony in Paris on June 21 to mark 20 years of its direct air routes linking Vietnam’s Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with France.

The routes have helped shorten the travel time to only 12 hours from a day as before when its planes had to transit via Dubai.

Vietnam Airlines Chairman Dang Ngoc Hoa said that in the past two decades, the carrier has transported 3.8 million passengers, and more than 174,500 tonnes of cargo. The average annual growth of passengers and cargo in the period before the COVID-19 pandemic was 5% and 10%, respectively.

Currently, with a frequency of 10 to 11 flights per week, the operation of wide-body Airbus A350 aircraft and 5-star service quality, Vietnam Airlines is holding the largest market share of passengers transported directly between the two countries, with nearly 75%.

Nguyen Ngoc Canh, Vice Chairman of the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC), spoke highly of the airline’s efforts to connect the two countries. He said that with strong strides, it is promoting its role as an aviation bridge, helping to promote Vietnam-France relations.

Currently, France is one of the leading trade partners of Vietnam in the European Union (EU). Two-way trade hit 5.34 billion USD last year, an impressive increase compared to the 1.6 billion USD in 2009.

 (Source: NDO)