United Airlines has returned to Vietnam after 9 years

Real World Aviation
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WELCOME BACK TO VVTS AFTER 9 YEARS.

United Airlines has just resumed flights to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN/VVTS), connecting with San Francisco (SFO) and Los Angeles (LAX) with a stopover in Hong Kong (HKG), making this a one-stop service on the route SFO/LAX-HKG-SGN.

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The new route officially began operations on October 26, using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with a daily frequency of two flights, UA152 and UA153, between HKG and SGN.

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This also marks the first U.S. airline to operate passenger flights to Vietnam (excluding cargo services). More precisely, this is UA’s return after a 9-year hiatus (2016–2025). The airline previously operated SFO-HKG-SGN in 2004 and LAX-HKG-SGN in 2007, before discontinuing both routes.

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Photos source: Luu Ngoc Tuan

34 Likes
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Beautiful pictures :heart_eyes::heart_eyes:
I will for sure be doing this soon in the game

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Bet you 100 bucks they will restart the route with SFO as it’s a base for UA.

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So after that they operated non-stop flights to/from SFO or LAX until 2016? Or what route ended in 2016?

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It’s great to know that an American airline is flying to Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam, like this. If they open a route to Denpasar, Bali, it would be a promising opportunity. They could possibly fly from Honolulu or Guam, which are the closest options. Great photo!

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As someone from Vietnam who’ve moved to LA and occasionally visits Ho Chi Minh from time to time, it feels weird to see an US-based airline at Tan Son Nhat International. Nonetheless, it’s also nice to see an American airline back in Vietnam! I’d have to fly United to Saigon one day. I also wonder if the other major US carriers like Delta and American Airlines would consider flying to Vietnam as well.

Edit: thought I might share a video of the flight arriving into and out of VVTS, with the water salute. Video credits to Dang Khoa QS

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American and Delta are rivals with United so perhaps.. Delta could respond back with United by launching a flight as well.

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I know what routes I’m doing!