U.S. and Vietnam discuss flight pact

U.S. and Vietnam discuss flight pact

HANOI (AFP): Vietnam and the United States will begin
hammering out a bilateral aviation accord today that would pave
the way for direct flights between the two countries.

However, U.S. airline executives say that nonstop flights
between the two countries were still a long way off given the
small size of the market.

"Unless these bilaterals produce an environment which makes it
economically viable in the short term, I don't know that any U.S.
carrier will do it," said Don Curran, United Airlines Pacific
South vice president.

Curran said a likely first step would be code sharing
agreements between U.S. carriers and their partners in the
region. For example, a U.S. carrier could carry passengers say,
to Japan on its own flight and then book seats on a Japanese
airline which already flies to Vietnam.