Vietnam Airlines dates back to January 1956. The government of North Vietnam set up the Vietnam Civil Aviation Department. It had a tiny fleet of piston-engine planes supplied by the Soviet Union, including Ilyushin Il-14s. War and years of isolation held flying back for decades. Even after the country reunified in 1975, the airline kept operating Soviet-built Tupolevs for many more years. Then economic reform changed everything.
The company was formally set up as the national flag carrier in 1993, meaning the airline that represents the country abroad. In 1995 several aviation firms merged into Vietnam Airlines Corporation. Western planes arrived quickly after that, starting with Boeing 767s and Airbus A320s. In June 2010 it joined SkyTeam, a global grouping of airlines that cooperate, as the alliance's first member from Southeast Asia.
In 2015 it became one of Asia's first Airbus A350-900 operators, beside Boeing 787-9s. It listed shares in 2017 but stayed majority state-owned. In November 2021 it opened the first scheduled nonstop flights between Vietnam and the US, linking Ho Chi Minh City and San Francisco. The lotus-branded carrier works from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, battles budget rival VietJet, and keeps adding long-haul routes.