The service would fly passengers from Vietnam to the US, with a stopover in Japan, according to Delta.

The company would later seek the traffic right to sell tickets in the US and Japan, Nhi said.

Brian Swain, Asia managing director for Northwest Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta, said the demand for business and leisure travel between the two countries continues to grow.

United Airlines is the only US carrier currently operating direct flights from HCMC to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago via Hong Kong.

Delta recently completed a takeover of rival Northwest Airlines to create the world’s largest airline by traffic.

Reported by Vinh Bao