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Vietnam Airlines (IATA code: VA) is headquartered in the Long Bien district of Hanoi, Vietnam. Vietnam Airlines has two major hubs, Noi Bai and Tan San Nhat International Airports, and one secondary hub, Da Nang International Airport. In line with its motto of “Reach Further”, Vietnam Airlines grows not only within the domestic aviation market but also globally. As the flag carrier of Vietnam, Vietnam Airlines always honors the diversity of its passengers by providing various services. At its core, the airline aspires to become a reliable modern airline, reputable for the quality of its services and the hospitality and warmth characteristic of the people of Vietnam. Maintaining national identity is very important for the airline, as shown by the design of its flight attendant uniform and the selection of traditional Vietnamese cuisines offered onboard. Vietnam Airlines’ flight attendants wear Ao Dai, a traditional Vietnamese dress. Until today, the airline has modified its uniform five times. On 20 October 2002, Vietnam Airlines presented its new logo, the Golden Lotus, which symbolizes the company’s dramatic improvement since its establishment. This logo replaced its previous logo of blue stork wings flying over a full moon. The lotus is the symbol of the Vietnamese ancient culture, which speaks of strength against adversities. The sacred flower is also associated with enlightenment and perfection. The color gold, on the other hand, was selected to elicit a sense of luxury. Nevertheless, the design was renewed in 2015 to incorporate the color blue into the logo’s backdrop and a different font. Vietnam Airlines also extended its service by offering a new frequent flyer program named Lotusmiles at the end of 1999. This program allows passengers to redeem their accumulated miles for rewards and services. Lotusmiles extends to the members of other airlines’ frequent flyer programs around the world, including ANA Mileage Club from Japan. In 2016, the airline received several awards, including Asia’s Leading Airline (Economy Class) and Asia’s Leading Cultural Airline by the World Travel Awards. In the same year, Vietnam Airlines also managed to rank second as Southeast Asia full-service airline with 20.6 million passengers. Vietnam Airlines divides its travel class into Economy, Premium Economy, and Business Class. Each class comes with a well-selected in-flight entertainment facilities, which include music, movies, interactive games, and daily magazines and newspapers. Economy Class passengers are entitled to 20 kg of checked baggage and one item of cabin baggage. Business and Premium Economy Class passengers, on the other hand, are entitled to 30 kg of checked baggage and two items of cabin baggage. Lotusmiles members get extra allowance. Additionally, passengers flying with Vietnam Airlines can choose from three check-in options. First, they can check in directly at the airport counter, from two hours to 40 minutes before their domestic flight departure, or three hours to 50 minutes before their international flight departure. Alternatively, they can check-in via Kiosk at the airport or online—both open from 24 hours before departure and close two hours before departure.

Vietnam Airlines was established as a state-owned enterprise in January 1956, two years after the first stage of the Vietnam War had ended. It was founded under the name Vietnam Civil Aviation, which operated only five aircraft at Gia Lam Airport. The first aircraft operated by the airline were two Lisunov Li-2s, which later on were replaced by two Ilyushin II-14, and three Aero Ae-45s. Eight months later, it began serving domestic flights between Hanoi and Saigon (now better known as Ho Chi Minh City). In 1990, the airline’s Deputy Managing Director, Pham Ngoc Minh, started discussing an idea to use Western-built aircraft. In January 1991, the airline made its wet-lease agreement with the Dutch TransAvia Airlines over Boeing 737-300, which meant that TransAvia would provide Vietnam Airlines with an aircraft complete with the crew, maintenance, and insurance. Vietnam Airlines would only cover the fee for fuel, airport, and taxes or other duties. Vietnam Airlines then arranged a similar deal with TEA Basle, which spent most of 1991 negotiating a compromise with the US authorities. By the end of the year, the US approved the wet-lease agreement under certain conditions: aircraft should not be parked within Vietnam and no lettering of Vietnam Airlines could be placed on any aircraft. B737-300 started its service on 15 February 1992, operated by TEA pilots, but with Vietnam Airlines cabin crew. In January 1993, a 767-200ER was leased by Ansett Worldwide along with 767-300ER from Royal Brunei, which arrived in January the next year through Region Air. The 767-300ER was flown entirely by Royal Brunei pilots, while Ansett training captain operated the 767-200ER with some Vietnamese crew. After several years, the leasing practice brought benefits to Vietnam Airlines. The arrival of 767s was a fresh start to build a connection with Boeing. The airline also had a chance to develop a relationship with other non-US companies. This was a notable milestone for Vietnam Airlines because some companies began to give the airline their attention. In April 1993, Vietnam Airlines officially became the country's flag carrier whose management was operated by the government. In August the same year, Vietnam Airlines signed an extensive cooperative agreement with Air France. The cooperation covered several areas of activity, such as training for pilots and cabin crew, marketing alliance, maintenance, and technicality. The training for pilots also earned them a standardized certificate. Still, at the heart of the agreement was the leasing of Airbus aircraft. On the two-year wet lease, the first three Airbus A320s arrived in October 1993, followed by two more in February 1994. The aircraft were operated on services to Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and Phnom Penh. As a result, the airline gained busy flight traffic with 1.06 million passengers, 418.000 of them were on an international itinerary. Although Air France had fulfilled its end of the agreement and the leased aircraft had solved Vietnam Airlines' problem, the latter decided to set a complete replacement program. Vietnam Airlines wanted to replace its old Soviet-built fleet, especially when the US had lifted its embargo in February 1994. During a meeting with Vietnamese statesman Vo Van Kiet that February, John McDonnell, chairman of the aerospace manufacturing corporation McDonnell Douglas, had offered to fully finance any aircraft Vietnam would need from the company. Vietnam Airlines then focused its operations on domestic routes in 1994, building a network which included 14 Vietnamese cities, with limited regional flights to Bangkok, Vientiane, and Phnom Penh. It also started to make deals with other carriers, such as Cathay Pacific, to increase its traffic growth from 520,000 passengers in 1991 to 1.1 million in 1993. 750.000 of the more than one million passengers were foreign tourists and businessmen. From 1995 to 1997, through Region Air, Vietnam Airlines looked for new aircraft to replace the leased aircraft. The airline also made plans to phase out its old aircraft and make room for more Western-built airliners like Boeing, ATR, Airbus, and McDonnell Douglas. With the new fleet, the airline hoped to be able to secure not only a wet-lease agreement, but also a dry-lease agreement. The year 2001 marked a big milestone for the Vietnam Airlines Corporation. By the end of the year, the company finally signed a bilateral trade agreement with Boeing. Through the agreement, Vietnam Airlines was able to purchase four units of Boeing 777-200ER and lease six more units from International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC), a member of American International Group, Inc. Both sides agreed that the decision could also be considered as a meaningful start for the US-Vietnam relation. In 2006, Vietnam Airlines was awarded the IATA Operation Safety Audit (IOSA), and four years later, it officially joined the SkyTeam global airlines alliance. Then on 12 January 2016, Vietnam Airlines entered into a partnership agreement with ANA Group, the largest airline group in Japan. Through this partnership, ANA Group acquired 8.8% of Vietnam Airlines’ shares, valued at about 2,431 billion Vietnamese dong (US$108 millions). The partnership has also enabled both parties to begin their cooperation in providing air service in Asia. Currently, Vietnam Airlines operates 66 flights weekly on ten routes between Japan and Vietnam, while ANA operates 14 flights on two routes.