Air transport in Vietnam is the

commercial air transport An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...

of passengers, freight and mail within

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and between Vietnam and the rest of the world. The government's

Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV or simply CAA; vi, Cục Hàng không Việt Nam, lit=Authority of Aviation of Vietnam) is the aviation authority under the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam. It handles and regulates civil aviation ...

, the

civil aviation authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

under the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...

, oversees the operations of aviation activities in the country.

History

Air transport in Vietnam started with the founding of the Vietnam Civil Aviation in January 1956 by the Vietnam People's Air Force ( Ministry of Defense), upon the issuance of Decision No.666/TTG of the Vietnamese government. The authority was originally tasked with state management, national defense, and commercialization of air transportation. The aviation sector expanded greatly during its formative years, expanding from a few aircraft in what was then North Vietnam to eventually include a fleet of over 50 aircraft (including both Soviet- and US-made) in a unified Vietnam after 1976. Infrastructure was improved during this time, as airports country-wide were equipped with better facilities and materials for flight management and operations. CAAV grew to serve around 250,000 passengers a year, both domestically and on international routes to China, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.A Strategy For The Vietnam Civil Aviation Administration To Promote Us-Vietnam Bilateral Civil Aviation Agreement
. Chi Nguyen. December 2001. Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, California. On 9 December 2004,

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

made history when its

Boeing 747-400 The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The "Advanced Series 300" was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, targeting ...

landed in Ho Chi Minh City. Flight UA869 took off from San Francisco at 12:10 pm, and made an en route stop at Hong Kong for two hours, before setting off again. The 747, which carried 260 passengers, touched down at 10:06 pm, ending a 29-year absence of US commercial flights since the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.

Future

According to the

International Air Transport Association The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

(IATA), Vietnam is projected to be the third fastest-growing market for freight and international passengers behind the People's Republic of China and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

, at 10.2% annually until 2014. Domestically, Vietnam will have the second fastest-growing passenger market behind China.

Airlines

, seven domestic and 47 foreign airlines operate within, to and from Vietnam.

Vietnam Airlines

Vietnam Airlines Vietnam Airlines ( vi, Hãng Hàng không Quốc gia Việt Nam, lit=Vietnam National Airlines) is the flag carrier of Vietnam. The airline was founded in 1956 and later established as a Government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise i ...

is the country's national flag carrier. It operates approximately 70 aircraft, serving 46 destinations from its hubs at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat International Airports. The airline and its affiliate,

VASCO Vasco may refer to: * Basque language, called ''vasco'' in Spanish * ''Vasco'' (album), a two-part EP by Ricardo Villalobos * Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer * Vasco da Gama, Goa, a city in India, often called simply Vasco * Club de Regatas Va ...

, makes up 80% of the domestic aviation market. Vietnam Airlines is a member of

SkyTeam SkyTeam is one of the world's three major airline alliances. Founded in June 2000, SkyTeam was the last of the three alliances to be formed, the first two being Star Alliance and Oneworld, respectively. Its annual passenger count is 630 million ...

, an

airline alliance An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within c ...

, which it joined in June 2010. Vietnam Airlines currently has plans to launch flights to

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, and most importantly, the United States. Although there has been a long-standing plan to launch flights to the

US West Coast The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

, it has been postponed due mainly to the stringent requirement that must be met, which the airline is currently working towards.

Pacific Airlines

Pacific Airlines Pacific Airlines Joint Stock Aviation Company (, operating as Pacific Airlines) is a low-cost airline headquartered in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. With its operating base at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh ...

is the second largest domestic carrier behind Vietnam Airlines. Based in

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, the airline operates approximately 7 aircraft, with which it provides services to 7 destinations within Vietnam. It changed its name to Jetstar Pacific after

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

of Australia bought 18% of shares, thereby integrating it into the Jetstar

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

network. By 2010, Jetstar Pacific controlled 20% of the domestic market share. After Qantas sold its 30% shareholding in July 2020, it resumed trading as Pacific Airlines.

VietJet Air

VietJet Air is the first low-cost airlines in Vietnam. Launched at the end of 2009, Vietjet Air is now even larger than Jetstar Pacific Airlines. Vietjet Air operates flights to 17 airports in Vietnam and to 13 airports in other countries.

Hai Au Aviation

Established in 2011, Hai Au Aviation operates

Cessna 208 Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA ...

seaplanes on scenic flights.

Airports and infrastructure

There are 22 airports in operations throughout Vietnam, of which 9 are international.

Tan Son Nhat International Airport Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport ( vi, Sân bay quốc tế Tân Sơn Nhất or Cảng hàng không quốc tế Tân Sơn Nhất) is the busiest airport in Vietnam with 32.5 million passengers in 2016 and 38.5 million passengers in 2018 ...

, Noi Bai International Airport and Da Nang International Airport are the major gateways, handling most of international flights.

References

{{World topic, Air transport in, title=

Air transport Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

around the World, noredlinks=yes Transport in Vietnam