HANOI - Foreign carriers accounted for nearly all the increase in Vietnam’s international passenger traffic through June 15, aviation authority figures show.

International passenger throughput reached 26.2 million, up 15.4% from the same period in 2025, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said on July 17. Vietnamese airlines carried 9.6 million passengers, an increase of only 0.2%, and accounted for 36.6% of international traffic.

Foreign airlines therefore carried about 16.6 million passengers, roughly 26.5% more than a year earlier, based on the authority’s rounded totals. Vietnamese carriers’ share of international traffic fell from approximately 42.2% to 36.6% as overseas airlines absorbed almost all the market’s growth.

Domestic passenger throughput was nearly unchanged at 18.7 million, up 0.3%. International services added about 3.5 million passenger movements from a year earlier, compared with roughly 56,000 on domestic routes. Vietnamese airlines maintained 54 routes connecting Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and 20 airports nationwide.

Foreign airlines from 41 countries and territories operated 235 scheduled routes to Vietnam. Vietnamese carriers ran 109 international routes to 22 countries and territories, giving foreign airlines a substantially wider route presence in the country’s international market.

The increase extended to freight. Airports handled 706,700 tonnes of international air cargo, up 21.3% year on year, as domestic freight fell 7% to 216,400 tonnes. Vietnamese airlines carried 119,000 tonnes internationally, an increase of 8.6%, and held 16.8% of the international cargo market.

Vietnamese airlines’ near-flat international passenger traffic came with 17 Vietnam-registered Airbus A321neo aircraft still in long-term storage because of Pratt & Whitney engine shortages. That was six fewer than a year earlier. Vietnam had 280 registered aircraft after its fleet grew by a net 18 aircraft from 2025.

The authority said rising traffic was placing pressure on airports, airspace, aircraft availability, maintenance services and aviation workers. It also listed extreme weather, drones, birds and wildlife near airports among continuing operational risks. 

Civil Aviation Authority director general Uông Việt Dũng said in a July 20 report, “Complacency, negligence or trading off safety for operational tempo or economic efficiency is absolutely unacceptable.”