All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Vietnam Airlines exchanged a basic agreement on November 9 to pursue a joint venture on routes connecting Japan and Vietnam. The carriers aim to enhance convenience by deepening their cooperation beyond their existing codeshare and mileage partnerships, including through the joint coordination of schedules and fares.
After finalizing the details, the two airlines will proceed with the necessary procedures with relevant authorities. The start date of the joint venture, as well as the specific routes and number of flights covered, have yet to be determined. ANA President Koichi Hirasawa explained that approval for an antitrust exemption would be a prerequisite and said that, while he could not specify an implementation date at this stage, he hoped it could be realized as soon as possible.
As examples of the initiatives generally made possible by a joint venture, Hirasawa cited optimized schedules combining flights operated by both airlines and the introduction of common fares allowing customers to freely combine flights from either carrier. Options under consideration also include expanded cooperation on domestic connections in Japan and Vietnam, onward services to third countries, and airport and mileage services.
ANA is a member of Star Alliance, while Vietnam Airlines belongs to SkyTeam. Explaining why the two carriers, which belong to different alliances, are seeking a joint venture, Hirasawa said they had built a relationship of trust through 10 years of cooperation and had become confident that they could work together. He also cited strong demand between Japan and Vietnam and expectations for continued growth in the Vietnamese market.
Vietnam Airlines Chief Executive Officer Le Hong Ha described the Japanese market as important to the airline and said the cooperation would create opportunities to increase flights and expand destinations served. He characterized a joint venture as the highest level of cooperation between airlines and expressed expectations that the relationship between the two companies would enter a new phase.
Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary and President To Lam also attended the ceremony in Tokyo, where executives from both companies took part in a traditional kagami biraki sake-barrel opening ceremony.
The partnership between the two airlines began in 2016, when ANA Holdings entered into a capital and business alliance with Vietnam Airlines and became a strategic shareholder. The carriers have cooperated through codeshares and reciprocal use of their mileage programs.
Notice
This article was generated using automatic translation by GPT-4 API. The translation may not be accurate.
