Vietnam Airlines carries 60,000 passengers in 1st year of US flights

The average load factor on its HCMC-San Francisco service launched on November 28 last year has been 72%, the carrier said in a press release.

There are three weekly flights on the route using Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, the two most modern wide-body aircraft.

Vietnam Airlines was the first local carrier to fly direct to the U.S.

U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, Marc Knapper, said: "I hope Vietnam Airlines will expand its flight network to other cities in the U.S. to meet travel demand of people between the two countries."

Vietnam Airlines planned to begin services to Los Angeles from Hanoi and HCMC.

There are nearly 24,000 Vietnamese students and 2.2 million overseas Vietnamese in the U.S., according to official statistics.

According to tourism authorities, the U.S. has sent the second highest number of visitors after Vietnam reopened its borders post-Covid.