El Al will market joint Thailand-Vietnam packages.
El Al is considering operating regular flights to Vietnam. An El Al delegation recently held talks with Vietnam's national carrier Vietnam Airlines, which considered various options for a route between the two countries.
The talks were held against the backdrop of an aviation agreement between the two countries' aviation authorities. The agreement determined arrangements for flights between Israel and Vietnam for the first time, either as direct flights or through code-sharing. El Al could have regular flights from Tel Aviv to Vietnam's capital Hanoi, or alternatively to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).
El Al's commercial department is examining three main alternatives for flights to Vietnam: Direct flights to Vietnam; a Tel Aviv-Bangkok-Vietnam route; or transferring El Al passengers from Bangkok or Hong Kong to follow-on flights to Vietnam on Vietnam Airlines. El Al estimates the number of Israeli tourists likely to fly to Vietnam could be 6,000 in the coming tourist season, and reach 15,000 in the following season. The airline is also considering joint Thailand-Vietnam packages. Tourists in Vietnam are mostly businesspeople visiting neighboring Asian countries. Passengers from Vietnam are mostly study groups travelling overseas on behalf of the government. There is also a potential pilgrim market of 7 million Vietnamese Christians.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 5 August 2001