Under the plan, the direct air route to the US is expected to be launched this year with the initial choice being San Francisco or Los Angeles as the destination. Visiting old battlefields along with historical and cultural sites are suggested as major tourism products for American visitors.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved direct flights between Vietnam and key markets, including the US

Besides the US, other major markets included in the plan are China, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, France, the UK and India. In addition, high-potential markets for trade, investment and tourism co-operation like South Africa and the Middle East were named. The scheme is also among the basic steps in the country’s policies to promote the development of the tourism industry.

Meanwhile, direct flights have also been approved to connect many Vietnamese cities such as Danang, Haiphong, Nha Trang, Da Lat, Hue and Can Tho and Chinese cities, including Chongqing, Dalian, Haikou, Wuhan, Ningbo, Hainan, Xi'an, Changchun, Fuzhou and Guilin. Besides, more flights to Beijing, Guangzhou, Kunming, Chengdu and Shanghai will be conducted, using wide-body planes.

In terms of Russia, the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport will work with Russian authorities to reach more agreements on opening more flights to the country.

During the 2006-2016 period, Vietnam’s aviation sector witnessed 15.9% growth in the passenger segment and 13.1% the cargo segment, making it one of the three markets with the highest growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2017, the country welcomed over 94 million air passengers, up 16% on-year, while cargo volume rose 19% to 1.34 million tonnes.

At present, the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific Airlines, Vietjet Air, and VASCO are operating 53 international air routes to 17 countries and territories, with a total fleet of 160 aircraft. More than 50 foreign airlines from 28 countries and territories are also operating 78 air routes to 21 Vietnamese airports.

The local tourism sector has set a target to attract 17-20 million international tourists by 2020, contributing 10-12% of the country’s total GDP.