Vietnam Airlines officially became a full member of SkyTeam, the world's second largest airline alliance, in Ha Noi Thursday, making it the only carrier in Southeast Asia to be admitted as a member.
"This event marks a significant milestone for the national flag carrier and it is vivid evidence of the continued international integration of Vietnamese enterprises. It also represents a great contribution to the achievements of the country during the doi moi (renewal) process," said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
"Membership of the alliance not only brings huge benefits to Vietnam Airlines but also helps raise the prestige and position of SkyTeam and its members," he added.
The Prime Minister expressed his hope that Vietnam Airlines would continue developing and further promote the image of Viet Nam as a peace-loving, active, friendly and unique country abroad.
He also said he hoped SkyTeam would continue to develop and expand, attract more customers and reap greater success.
CEO of Vietnam Airlines Pham Ngoc Minh said the close co-operation among SkyTeam member airlines throughout the air transportation chain would facilitate the expansion of its flight network, the sharing of experiences, and the application of advanced technologies.
"In addition, resource-sharing will help member airlines save costs, and improve service quality, which will in turn bring more benefits to customers and greater business efficiency to each member airline, including Vietnam Airlines," Minh said.
Vietnam Airlines intended to become the second largest airline in the Asean bloc, Minh said.
Leo Van Wijk, chairman of SkyTeam Governing Board, also pointed out other benefits: "Vietnam Airlines customers can also earn and redeem frequent flyer mileage when travelling on flights of all other SkyTeam member airlines. And customers from other SkyTeam frequent flyer programmes can achieve the same when flying Vietnam Airlines."
"Asia is a strategic growth market for SkyTeam and we are well on track to strengthen our network in this part of the world. Therefore, we are proud to welcome the first carrier from Southeast Asia," Leo said.
"Vietnam Airlines will firmly contribute to this objective, by adding 20 unique destinations to the SkyTeam network," he added.
With Vietnam Airlines as its 10th member, the SkyTeam Global Airline Alliance has made its official entrance in Southeast Asia, one of the most dynamic regions with rapid economic growth with Viet Nam now acting as the gateway for the alliance to access a market of 200 million people in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam.
The other nine members of the alliance include Aeroflot, Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia, China Southern, Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Korean Air, and two associate members: Air Europa, and Kenya Airways with its flight network to 856 destinations in 169 countries.
Vietnam Airlines expects to transport 12 million local and foreign passengers this year with 290 flights per day, for revenues of VND32.2 trillion (US$1.69 billion) and profits of VND151 billion ($7.9 million) this year.