EU and Vietnam sign off on a deal that will boost air transport

An aviation agreement has been signed today by the European Union and the Vietnamese authorities which will remove nationality restrictions in the bilateral air services agreements between EU Member States and Vietnam. The agreement will allow any EU airline to operate flights between any EU Member State and Vietnam, where a bilateral agreement exists and traffic rights are available1.

The “horizontal” agreements will bring several provisions in bilateral air services agreements between 17 Member States and Vietnam in line with European law. Most importantly, it will remove nationality restrictions in bilateral air services agreements between EU Member States and Vietnam. It will thereby allow any EU airline to operate flights between Vietnam and any EU Member State in which it is established, where a bilateral agreement between the EU Member State concerned and Vietnam already exists and traffic rights are available.

The agreement represents an important step towards strengthening aviation relations between the EU and Vietnam.

Air transport is crucial for relations between the EU and Vietnam, linking people, cultures and businesses.

Currently, there are 45 such horizontal agreements with partner countries worldwide. 900 bilateral air services agreements have already been modified by the joint efforts of the European Commission and EU Member States to replace nationality rules with the principle of EU airline designation.