Vietnam Airlines CEO: US service would operate at a loss for first five years

Vietnam Airlines president and CEO Duong Tri Thanh stated the launch of direct service to the US is more likely in 2019 or 2020 than 2018, due to regulatory and safety procedures (DTiNews, 09-Jan-2018). Mr Thanh also expects initial services to the US to operate at a loss. "[Vietnam Airlines] would suffer from loss of USD30 million a year for the first five years of operation, so we need to figure out how to reduce the losses to below USD30 million annually", he said. He expressed interest in a commercial agreement with other airlines to serve the US.