Emirates and Vietnam Airlines MoU were signed by Adnan Kazim, Emirates Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, and Nguyen Chien Thang, Vietnam Airlines’ Executive Vice President. — Photo courtesy of Emirates

Emirates has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vietnam Airlines to strengthen connectivity and offer more travel choices between Dubai and its Vietnamese gateways, HCM City and Hà Nội.

The signing ceremony took place in the presence of Việt Nam’s Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính at the Việt Nam-UAE Business Forum in Dubai on October 28.

Adnan Kazim, Emirates' Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, said: “Việt Nam is a market that presents tremendous opportunities to boost tourism and trade as a key hub in Southeast Asia, and Emirates supports the UAE government’s ongoing efforts to elevate its existing economic ties with Việt Nam. We look forward to growing our footprint in Việt Nam and exploring more opportunities to widen the scope of our partnerships in the future.”

The MoU sets the framework to expand the current cooperation in place between both airlines. This includes enhancing connectivity on routes beyond the existing interline as well as the potential to add reciprocal loyalty benefits. The airlines will also enter exploratory discussions around potential collaborations across cargo and technical services to create seamless experiences for travellers.

The long-standing relationship between Emirates and Vietnam Airlines, which began with bilateral interline cooperation in 1994, has helped connect customers to 22 domestic and 15 regional points in Vietnam Airlines' network, as well as 12 points in Emirates’ global network.

Emirates currently operates daily services to both HCM City and Hà Nội, utilising its Boeing 777 and offering travellers seamless access between Việt Nam and popular destinations across Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. The airline will further add a second daily flight to HCM City starting from 15 January 2025, catering to the growing demand for travel ahead of the Lunar New Year festival. — VNS