Vietnam Airlines (VN, Hanoi Noi Bai International) has set the ball in motion insofar as the start of scheduled passenger flights to the United States is concerned.
In its application to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for exemption authority as well as a Foreign Air Carrier Permit (FACP), Vietnam Airlines said it expected to begin service on or about October 30, 2018, with daily return flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Los Angeles International using A350-900 equipment initially.
Vietnam Airlines has said it may change both the preferred route and launch date should the need arise.
Under the terms of the Vietnam-United States Air Services Agreement, the Vietnamese government, in 2007, designated the following cities in the US it wishes to serve on a regular basis alongside Los Angeles: San Francisco; Seattle Tacoma International; New York; Washington Dulles; and Dallas/Fort Worth.
As intermediary points, it specified Taipei Taoyuan, Taiwan and Nagoya Chubu, Japan while beyond travel points were listed as Vancouver International, Montréal Trudeau, and Toronto Pearson in Canada. No local traffic rights between Japan and the United States have been granted.
Currently, Vietnam Airlines' longhaul network currently entails London Heathrow in the United Kingdom, Frankfurt International in Germany, Paris CDG in France, Melbourne Tullamarine and Sydney Kingsford Smith in Australia which it serves with A350-900, B787-9, A330-200, and B777-200(ER) equipment.
