Vietnam Airlines and US-based Delta Air Lines will begin their reciprocal codeshare agreement in January to operate Vietnam – US flights via Japan’s Tokyo, a representative from the Vietnamese national flag carrier said on January 2.

Vietnam Airlines' Boeing 787-10 aircraft (Photo: VNA)

The US Department of Transportation recently granted approval for the two airlines to expand cooperation after they inked two-way codeshare agreement in August 2019, according to the representative.

Under the agreement, Vietnam Airlines will provide Vietnam – Tokyo flights while Delta Air Lines will operate services between Tokyo and US cities. The two-way partnership allows passengers to book a codeshare flight and fulfill flight formalities only once for their entire journey through either Vietnam Airlines or Delta Air Lines, thereby facilitating their visits to popular destinations in both nations.

The Vietnam Airlines representative said that with the US Department of Transportation’s approval, the carrier has complete its right to operate routes to and from the US, including regular flights, charter flights and two-way partnership flights. This is billed as a significant move for the airline to explore travel demand between Vietnam and the US while making customers form the habit of flying to the US on Vietnam Airlines-operated flights.

In 2010, Vietnam Airlines clinched a one-way codeshare agreement with Delta on ten international routes to and from the US, and ten domestic routes in the US. The agreement has enabled Vietnam Airlines passengers to fly to eight US states by transiting in Tokyo (Japan) or Frankfurt (Germany). However, Vietnam Airlines only marketed and sold tickets for the flights, while Delta had the right to operate them.

In 2018, the Vietnam-US route saw 757,000 arrivals, up 8 percent year on year. Of them, 18,000 came from the virtue of the two airlines’ cooperation, primarily from the US to Vietnam.

Delta, an airline based in Atlanta city, provides international flights to North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.