Established in 1989, the 60-year-old carrier is the main airline of Vietnam. The airline was founded under the Vietnam Civil Aviation and was established as a state-owned enterprise. The airline has its hub at Noi Bai International Airport and Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Vietnam airlines are IATA certified and joined SkyTeam in 2010. The airline has positioned itself as a young and modern airline and continues to grow. Vietnam Airlines was partially privatized in 2015 to streamline the services and compete better.
The fleet
During the period of 1996-2010, the airline carried 82 million passengers on 678550 flights. As of 2016, the airline has 90 aircraft at its disposal. Vietnam Airline also operates air freight division of Vietnam Airlines Cargo. The airline provides cargo services in Europe, Asia, North America and Oceania.
Destinations
The airline flies to 21 domestic and 28 international destinations on a daily basis. Vietnam Airline has a network including Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. The airline flies 300 flights everyday.
In order to meet the demand of annual Tet celebrations within the country, Vietnam airlines increased the percentage of domestic travel. The airline also shares codeshare agreement with several other airlines.
Business Class
The airline started providing business class services since 1999. The business class is the highest of the three classes provided by the airline. On Boeing 777, the seats facilitate 62 inches leg room and recline with a pitch of 157 degrees depending on the aircraft. Business class comes only in Boeing 777, Airbus 350-900 and Boeing 787-9. During short flights of 90 minutes snacks are served and long flights meals are served.
Onboard Facilities
On selected flights of Vietnam Airlines, audio-video on demand is available for entertainment through personal screens. The options come in films, games, TV Programmes and music. The airline also provides 2 in flight magazines called Heritage and Heritage Fashion.
Online booking and Check In
The passengers can avail web check-in facility online. After web check-in, an email containing the boarding pass will be issued. Travelers can take print out and show at the airport counter to validate the pass. Once the staff stamps it or issues the traditional boarding pass, one can proceed to the security check. The travelers can check in using reservation code or even frequent flyer miles.