U.S. airlines to provide Vietnam service

By Patty Davis
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Department of Transportation gave tentative approval Tuesday to a plan that will allow three U.S. airlines to provide service to Vietnam via a partnership arrangement with other carriers. It would be the first time since the late 1960s that U.S. travelers could book flights to Vietnam on U.S. airlines.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta called it an "important step in what I am confident will be a growing aviation relationship between the United States and Vietnam in the coming years."

The three airlines -- Delta, Northwest and United -- would enter into a partnership with other carriers, meaning their own planes wouldn't actually fly into Vietnam. Under so-called code-sharing arrangements, an airline offers service in its name, but it is actually provided by another carrier.

The Transportation Department said Delta would partner with Air France to serve Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and Hanoi. Northwest would code-share with Malaysia Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to fly to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. United would partner with All Nippon Airlines and Thai Airways International to Ho Chi Minh City.

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An agreement between Vietnam and the United States last year paved the way for the new service to Vietnam. It also allows partnerships with Vietnamese airlines.

The airlines could get final approval within the next two weeks. A spokeswoman for United said the airline would have to file paperwork with other governments before it could start offering the service, but she did not have an estimate for when that might happen.

"Obviously, we're very excited about this," the spokeswoman said. "We'd like to start the service as soon as we can."

Spokespersons for the other airlines could not be reached for comment.

The move comes more than a quarter-century after the end of the Vietnam War.