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| Vietnam Airlines celebrates 20 years of direct flights between Vietnam and France. (Photo: HNMO) |
In the history of aviation, Vietnam Airlines is the first and only Vietnamese airline to operate a direct route between Vietnam and France for the past 20 years (2003-2023), playing an important role in aviation cooperation and tightening the relationship between the two countries.
Right from the early days of its establishment, Vietnam Airlines has determined that the route to France has an important strategic role, because France is the gateway to Europe with the ability to connect to North America. Besides, France is also a country with a long and strong tradition of cooperation with Vietnam.
In 1993-1994, Vietnam Airlines pioneered to lay the first brick for the Vietnam - France route when establishing a representative office in France and operating this route through a stop in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) by Boeing 767.
In 2003, with the upgrade to wide-body Boeing 777-200ER, the most modern fleet at that time, Vietnam Airlines officially opened a direct, non-stop flight from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Paris on June 24, 2003.
The direct flight helped shorten the flight time to only 12 hours compared to 1 day as before. The number of passengers flying between Vietnam and France has grown rapidly since Vietnam Airlines opened a direct route. The route also creates favorable conditions for hundreds of thousands of tourists to travel between the two countries every year.
Dang Ngoc Hoa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Airlines, said that two decades since opening direct flights, Vietnam Airlines has transported a total of 3.8 million passengers and 174,500 tons of cargo between the two countries. The average annual growth of passengers and cargo in the period before the COVID-19 pandemic was 5% per year and 10% per year, respectively.
Not only transporting passengers and goods, Vietnam Airlines is proud to have contributed to the economic, cultural and social connection between Vietnam and France, with many cooperation activities in aviation, diplomatic support, tourism and promotion of the image of the country and people of the two countries.
Currently, with a frequency of 10-11 flights per week, with the exploitation of wide-body Airbus A350 aircraft and 5-star service quality, Vietnam Airlines is holding the No. 1 position on the route with nearly 75% of the share of passengers transported directly between the two countries and the high efficiency seat use of 84%./.