Vietnam Airlines Aims For 4-Star Rating To Dominate SE Asia

Vietnam Airlines is making a bid to dominate air travel in SE Asia and climb the international rankings, investing heavily in new airplanes and service upgrades.

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Vietnam Airlines' Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner at Paine Field, Washington.

The airline, part of the SkyTeam Alliance, currently operates a full-service schedule to 52 destinations in 17 countries, with an active fleet of 77 aircraft. By 2020, Vietnam Airlines will add 33 new fuel-efficient long-range aircraft - 19 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and 14 Airbus A350-900s.

The airline received its first Airbus A350-900 this week and will see four more delivered this year. Vietnam Airlines is the second carrier in the world to get the state-of-the-art planes, according to Airbus and will service the airline’s Seoul and Paris routes.

Vietnam Airlines' first Airbus A350-XWB debuted on a runway in Toulouse, France.

In addition, Boeing Co. and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) signed an agreement, witnessed by the Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Transport, Nguyen Ngoc Dong, and U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius, wherein the airplane manufacturer will help to implement the strict standards needed to launch non-stop passenger and cargo services to the U.S.

The airline has also revamped everything from its logo to in-flight eating utensils.

Top - the airlines' logo until 2002. Middle - the logo from 2002 - May 2015. Bottom - the current logo launched in May 2015.

Vietnam Airlines is currently ranked 3 stars by the British Airlines and Airports Evaluation Organization, Skytrax. Only two SE Asian carriers have reached 5 stars status - Indonesia’s Garuda and Singapore’s SilkAir.

Skytrax’s evaluation is based on service quality of different flight classes (both on the plane and at the base airport). Presently, service in Vietnam Airlines’ economic class is ranked 4 stars, but its business class only 3. This has prompted the carrier from to push ahead with upgrades across the board from food and drinks, boarding areas, check-in areas and inflight WIFI to its human resources.

Vietnam Airlines has aimed to reach 5-star standards for flight punctuality, which currently stands at 88.6% and 81% for takeoffs and landings, respectively, figures that are considerably high among Asian airlines.

Globally, there are 37 carriers with 4-star rankings, and seven with 5-stars - All Nippon Airways (ANA), Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Garunda Indonesia, Hainan Airlines, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines.

With new planes, better service and a new, US$15 billion hub in the works in the form of Long Thanh Airport, the future looks bright for Vietnam’s state-owned airline.

 [Top photo via Aerosieger]