From The Old Days:

History of Vietnam Airlines dates back to January 1956, when the Vietnam Civil Aviation Department was established by the Government, marking the birth of the civil aviation industry in Vietnam. At that time, the fleet was small with only five aircraft of IL-14, AN-2, Aero-45… which started to serve domestic flights in September 1956.

The 1976 – 1980 period witnessed the beginning of the airline’s expansion and efficient operation in Asian destinations of Laos, Cambodia and China (regular flights) and Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore (charter services). At the end of this period, Vietnam Civil Aviation became a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

April 1993 was a major turning point when Vietnam Airlines was officially established as the country’s national flag carrier. On the 27th May 1996, Vietnam Airlines Corporation was born with the gathering of 20 aviation businesses and the airline itself.


Innovation Taking Place:

On 20th October 2002, Vietnam Airlines introduced the new logo of the Golden Lotus and corporate identity that symbolized its dramatic progress towards becoming a world-class airline. The launch represented a complete repositioning and brand strategy of Vietnam Airlines, coupled with significant improvements in its infrastructure, operations and fleet.

The delivery of its first own “state-of-the-art” B777 in 2003 also marked a true revolution in the airline’s fleet modernization. Three years later, Vietnam Airlines became one of the most modern fleets in the region.


World-class Airline:

For 15 years of development with an average annual growth rate of over 10 percent (except 1997 when the Asian financial crisis broke out), the national flag carrier has marked an obvious advance to become a major competitor in the Asian aviation market, owning a modern fleet of Airbus and Boeing planes flown by well trained professionals.

Beginning with non-regular services between two domestic destinations, today Vietnam Airlines’ network extends to 20 cities throughout the country and 40 international destinations in the USA, Europe, Australia and Asia (including code-share services).

In 2006, after being awarded the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate, a strict safety standard set by Aviation Quality Services (AQS), Vietnam Airlines joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as an official member, affirming its international standard.


Moving Forward:

Positioning its internationally recognized brand as a young and modern carrier, Vietnam Airlines excelled further when - together with the Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Company of which Vietnam Airlines was an initiator and founder - signing largest purchase orders of 12 Boeing B787s, 10 Airbus A350-900, 20 Airbus A321 and 5 ATR72-500 aircraft in 2007. The airline is expected to reach 104 and 150 modern aircraft in 2015 and 2020, respectively, making solid steps integ