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| Founded | 8 June 1951 | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | 30 April 1975 (1975-04-30) | ||||||
| Hubs | Tan Son Nhat International Airport,Saigon | ||||||
| Secondary hubs | Da Nang International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 15 | ||||||
| Destinations | 20 | ||||||
| Parent company | Government of theState of Vietnam 1951–1955, theRepublic of Vietnam 1955–1975 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Saigon;South Vietnam | ||||||
Active from 1951 to 1975,Air Viet Nam (Air VN) (Vietnamese:Hãng Hàng không Việt Nam) wasSouth Vietnam's first commercial air carrier, headquartered inDistrict 1,Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City).[1] Established under a decree by Chief of StateBảo Đại, the airline flew over two million passengers, throughout theVietnam War, and until its collapse due to theFall of Saigon.
Air Viet Nam's initial fleet consisted of fiveCessna 170s,Douglas DC-3s andDouglas DC-4s with the airline flying mainly between cities and towns throughoutVietnam. By 1975, Air Viet Nam was using a fleet of Boeing aircraft, some leased fromPan Am andChina Airlines consisting of a number ofBoeing 707s andBoeing 727s on both regional and international routes.
As passenger traffic increased with the start of theVietnam War, Air Viet Nam added aircraft, initiallyViscounts, DC-3s, andDC-4s. It eventually obtained more modern aircraft, including Boeing 727s, some of which were obtained fromAir France andPan Am. At least oneC-46 was leased fromChina Airlines, and was flown by aTaiwanese crew. That aircraft had a color scheme different from the rest of the Air Viet Nam fleet.
In an unusual joint venture, Air Viet Nam was joined byContinental Air Services (CASI), a subsidiary airline ofContinental Airlines set up to provide operations and airlift support inSoutheast Asia, in the mid-1960s. Under this agreement, CASI would share passengers and cargo routes with Air Viet Nam on certain domestic and international routes. In addition, CASI and Air Viet Nam would sharehangars and flight lines. CASI also picked up a portion of aircraft maintenance. Heavy engine overhaul was done inHong Kong, by China Airlines, and some inTaiwan byAir Asia (a subsidiary ofAir America). CASI paid a portion of its revenues to Air Viet Nam for the routes and privileges. Many CASI aircraft operating fromSaigon carried thedragon emblem of Air Viet Nam.
In 1972, Air Vietnam had one B747-200 leased fromAir France and another B747-100 leased fromPan Am both of which were flown back to their owners within a few weeks of theFall of Saigon.[citation needed]
During theFall of Saigon and the impending invasion ofNorth Vietnam intoSouth Vietnam, Air Viet Nam decided to assist and help all South Vietnamese citizens to escape to neighboring countries. Many of their pilots and crew worked long hours ferrying South Vietnamese citizens toThailand, Taiwan, thePhilippines, and otherSoutheast Asian countries to escape the invading North Vietnamese army. OneBoeing 707 flew toTaipei (capital ofTaiwan) for the use of former PresidentNguyen Van Thieu and his wife, and close aides had been flown into exile on aCIAC-118 transport. Thieu was extended the courtesy once in exile of the Boeing jet as he went from first Taiwan, then theUnited Kingdom, before finally flying onto theUnited States where it was returned toPan Am from which it had been leased.[2] An Air Vietnam aircraft abandoned at theSongshan Airport was later handed over to a Taiwanese airline.[3]
One Air VietnamBoeing 727 was returned to Vietnam fromBritish Hong Kong in early June 1975, by lead pilot Huynh Minh Boong, who had marriedGeneralPham Hung's sister.CaptainHuynh Minh Boong with over 10,000 flight hours, was a pilot onVietnam Airlines overseas flights due to hisIATA credentials, then in early 1980 he was appointed as head of training of Vietnam Airlines, now retired and lives inHo Chi Minh City.
The only commercial jet airplanes transferred from Air Vietnam to Vietnam Airlines are: oneBoeing 707 and oneBoeing 727-100.
According to the timetable published in 1969, Air Vietnam codeshared with the following airlines:
Qantas[4]
Royal Air Cambodge[5]
Air France[6]Union de Transports Aériens[7]
Air India[8]
Japan Air Lines[9]
Cathay Pacific
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines[10]
China Air Lines[11]
Pan Am[12]Northwest Orient Airlines[13]
British Overseas Airways Corporation[14]Air Viet Nam flight crews were composed ofcivilians with a mixture of ex-militarypilots, (mostly formerRepublic of Vietnam Air Force), along with a fewAmericans. However, one American CASI pilot reported that the Taiwanese crew of the leased C-46 always parked its aircraft separately atTân Sơn Nhứt International Airport inSaigon and kept its distance from the regular Air Viet Nam and CASI crews.
Pilots for Air Viet Nam wore a distinctive gold/bronze wing with a center shield containing a colored enamel version of the dragon/flag. It can be presumed that some senior grades of pilot and crew existed, although how these were indicated is not clear.
Stewardesses, orflight attendants, wore a gold or bronze metal wing with an embossed dragon emblem. Uniforms consisted of the traditionaláo dài in a variety of colors.
Air Vietnam aircraft generally had a single or dual green stripe down the mainfuselage. The top fuselage was generally white with a natural metal (silver) lower. The colorful dragon/flag roundel appeared in various sizes, most often on the tailrudder. Sometimes the roundel would appear alone and occasionally with a dual green stripe. The wording "Air Viet Nam" appeared in red/orange lettering above the windows on all large aircraft except the 727s, which were marked "Hàng Không Việt Nam". Exceptions to these schemes included the early Viscount aircraft, which were all white with a green stripe and had the roundel appearing on the front fuselage. The Chinese C-46 aircraft had a blue and red nose-side stripe with the roundel appearing on the rudder.
Advertisements used from the mid-1960s included South VietnameseOlympians, such as Thach Thi Ngoc, and flamboyant military officerNguyễn Cao Kỳ, whose wifeMadame Nguyễn Cao Kỳ was a flight stewardess before they were married. These celebrities promoted the airline's operation of Viscounts on the "Green Dragon Route", alternating flights from Saigon toSiem Reap,Cambodia;Bangkok, Thailand; and Hong Kong. Timetables indicate domestic routes covering destinations as far north asHuế, as far south asCà Mau, and including almost every major city in between.
Media related toAir Vietnam at Wikimedia Commons
