On February 14th, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted Vietnam a Category 1 safety rating enabling airlines based in the country to fly directly to the United States. This move will increase direct imports from Vietnam by the US as cargo capacity improves from the direct lane. Based on an audit conducted in August of 2018 the FAA found that Vietnam met or exceeded the qualifications necessary for the status, which includes airworthiness licensing, operations in compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organizations.
While the improvement will originally apply to all passenger services, Vietnam Airlines has no shortage of cargo offerings that can start to fly direct to the US West Coast, though no US airlines have yet announced a direct return flight from the US on any coast. However the cargo hasn’t been sitting around, waiting patiently for this category. The US and Vietnam enjoy a healthy, growing cargo trade as recent years have seen carriers with Middle Eastern hubs such as Emirates and Asian hubs like Cathay Pacific utilizing their central location to ferry cargo between the nations.
Vietnam is expected to greet this expansion with greater investments in their airports and Hanoi (HAN) and Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) to meet the demands of direct cargo operations to the United States. Construction programs are already underway to increase space for both airplanes and cargo operations, with new facilities breaking ground soon to alleviate congestion that’s hampering SGN services.
Here at Everglory we remain encouraged and hopeful at the rapid progression of Vietnam in the global arena. We have our own Vietnam office as well as deep heritage ties into our executive management that allows us the same reach and strength in service as the rest of the Pacific Rim. As currently the President of the United States and The Leader of North Korea meet in a summit in Hanoi, we are hopeful that Vietnam not only provides for great alternative production resources to supplement China amidst tariff negotiations and rising costs, but in the long term, expands in economic stability and resource in the entire global picture.
