Hanoi (VNA) – Bamboo Airways makes no secret of its ambition to become the first airline in Vietnam to operate direct flights to the United States, the airline’s Deputy Director General Truong Phuong Thanh said at a seminar on August 1.

“We have been veryinterested in launching Vietnam – US direct services from day one,” Thanh told the“Vietnam – US Direct Route: Ready for Taking Off” seminar held by FLC Group –the airline’s parent company – and the Vietnam Association on Aviation Scienceand Technology (VAAST) in Hanoi.

“BambooAirways will be the first in Vietnam to open Vietnam – US direct route,” hesaid, adding that he has full confidence that the new budget carrier canachieve this goal.

Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc highly spoke of the airline’s ambition, saying notonly the US is Vietnam’s potential market but Vietnam is also a promisingmarket the US wants to access.

According toLoc, demand for air freight transportation between the two countries is verylarge. Vietnam aims to become a global hub of new-generation FDI firms so manyproducts must be transported by air, he explained.

Vietnam alsohas great potential for tourism; plus there are about 2 million Vietnameseexpats living in the US, many of who fly home frequently to meet theirfamilies, the VCCI leader said.

Additionally,the US is home to many world-class universities and the number of Vietnamesestudents in the country has increased consistently over years, he added.

The global airtransport market is thriving with the Asia-Pacific region regarded by theInternational Air Transportation Association (IATA) as the world’sfastest-growing market, expanding 6 – 7 percent annually, said VAAST PresidentTran Quang Chau.

Vietnam’s airtransport growth even doubled that number, growing over 16 percent annuallyover the last decade, he noted.

In February,Vietnam received a Category 1 aviation safety rating from the US Department ofTransportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

With the CAT 1status, Vietnamese carriers will be able to establishdirect services to the US and carry the code of US carriers upon completionof the necessary remaining steps, including Vietnamese airports earningapproval to comply with ICAO security standards and recommended practices fromthe US Transportation Security Administration, and Vietnamese airlines earningeconomic authority from the US Department of Transportation.

Statistics bythe Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam show that the number of passengersflying between Vietnam and the US grew 8 percent annually in average from 2010– 2017 with more than 700,000 passengers in 2017.

Last year,about 107,000 Vietnamese people travelled to the US.–VNA