Touch down: exporters land long-awaited route to the US

“It is very favourable for us to open flights to Vietnam, the fastest-growing travel and aviation market in Asia right now and probably one of the two fastest economies,” said Joe Mannix, the carrier’s country director in Vietnam.
“Actually, we are pleased with this historic opportunity to be the first US carrier to provide services to Vietnam in almost 30 years. We consider the route as an important addition to our global network.”
United said it decided to launch the service – a daily Boeing 747-400 connection from San Francisco via Hong Kong – after Vietnamese authorities agreed to let the carrier pick up passengers in Hong Kong.
Flights depart San Francisco, the main Asian gateway for United, at 12:10pm, laying over in Hong Kong for nearly two hours from 7pm and landing in Ho Chi Minh City at 10:25pm. Demand is expected to be a mix of Viet Kieu largely from cities in California, Minnesota and North Carolina, a growing number of Vietnam-bound US tourists and expanding business travel.
Vietnamese air travel is expected to grow 10.5 per cent per year for the next 10 years, according to the International Transport Association, as the economy nearly matches the pace of China.
As air travel between Vietnam and the US is increasing fast, United hopes that it will reach high seat occupancy on the route, about 60- 70 per cent over the first several months of operations.
“I hope we will soon reach this average rate for the Vietnamese route,” said Mark Schwab, United vice president for Asia-Pacific.
To boost demand for the route, United is encouraging American tourists to travel to Vietnam. It is running big promotions for the route in the US and will organise a tour for American journalists so they can introduce Vietnam tourism to American tourists.
“We have provided information about Vietnam for our 60,000 employees worldwide to tell to customers. We are running a special promotion for travel to Vietnam among our 44 million frequent fliers,” Schwab said.
US and Vietnamese businesses and travellers hailed the direct air link that they believed will benefit tourism and economic relations between the two countries.
“Having a large American air carrier flying into Vietnam is an excellent way to increase America’s awareness of Vietnam as a destination to visit,” said Barry J. Israel, chairman of US-based Danao International Holdings Ltd.
“United will open new marketing doors. Millions of people every month read United’s airplane magazine, go to its website or use its image programme. They will utilise all of these marketing resources to talk about Vietnam. This is wonderful advertising for the country.”
Mark Canne, a US traveller, added that with the service, the distance between Vietnam and the US is no longer a problem. American travellers can depart from the US at noon and arrive in Vietnam at midnight.
Ta Quoc Cuong, chairman of Thanh Thao Silk Company in Ho Chi Minh City, one of the carrier’s first passengers, said: “This is a much desired service for Vietnamese businesspeople such as myself.”
“I visit the US regularly for business. The United’s service will make my trips to the US much more convenient. I no longer have to change carriers to complete by journey but can fly United direct to visit multiple cities in the US,” he said.
Despite huge demand, United does not plan to open direct flights to Hanoi or Central Vietnam, or operate non-stop flights on the routes for the time being. Instead, it code-shares with others airlines that fly to Vietnam such as Thai Airways out of Bangkok, Asiana Airlines out of Seoul and ANA out of Tokyo (ANA code share service is only to Ho Chi Minh City).
Vietnam and America signed a landmark aviation agreement last December that allows direct air service for the first time since 1975. The five-year agreement also permits unlimited code sharing, under which carriers sell seat on each other’s flights.
Apart from United Airlines, which has an office in Vietnam, American Airlines, a world-leading carrier, also opened a Vietnam office in January and plans flights to Vietnam via Japan. Continental Airlines also has plans to fly to Vietnam.