Hanoi (VNA) – The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines onSeptember 11 announced it had retired the last wide-body Airbus A330 aircraftin a move to replace its aging rolling stock with new models.

Since October 2016, the Airbus A330 fleet had safely transported nearly 20million passengers on around 96,000 flights.

With 12 aircraft of this model at thecarrier’s peak, the planes were mainly used on mid-haul flights such as Hanoi -HCM City and Hanoi/HCM city – Da Nang, and 15 international flights to the EU,Australia, Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia.

Vietnam Airlines’ phasing out of the A330 is part of the plan to upgrade itsfleet with new-generation aircraft such as Boeing 787 and Airbus A350.

In 2015, the carrier became the first airline in the world to successfullyoperate both next-generation aircraft Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and AirbusA350-900 XWB at the same time. The fleet has helped Vietnam Airlines saveenergy and maintenance cost, reduce 20-25 percent of carbon emission, whileimproving its service as a four-star airline.

It is now operating 94 routes to 21 domestic and 29 international destinationswith an average of 400 flights per day, connecting the world’s major cities totravel destinations in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

In 2010, Vietnam Airlines became a member of SkyTeam – a global airlinealliance whose 20 members provide access to an extensive global network of16,609 daily flights to 1074 destinations in 177 countries. This membershipreaffirmed the carrier’s position on the global aviation map.

Vietnam Airlines has been continuously working to complete procedures toconduct direct flights to the US, according to the national flag carrier.

The airline said it has been awarded a foreign air carrier permit from the USDepartment of Transportation to operate flights to transport passengers andgoods and parcels from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to several destinations inthe US, as well as those via points in Taipei (China’s Taiwan), and Osaka andNagoya in Japan. It was authorized to fly to Los Angeles, San Francisco, NewYork, Seattle and Dallas-Fort Worth. It can also continue flights to Vancouver,Montreal and Toronto cities in Canada.

In addition, Vietnam Airlines is also permitted to operate routes fromdestinations outside Vietnam, via Vietnam and other transit points to 25destinations in the US in the form of codeshare. The permission also allows thecarrier to make charter flights between the two countries./.