Air France and Vietnam Airlines are establishing a joint venture for their services between Paris Charles de Gaulle and both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The two SkyTeam carriers say in a joint statement that the arrangement, effective 1 November, will allow for better onward connections in Europe and Vietnam.

"Our aim is to maintain and develop our position as European leader in this region with very strong growth potential," states Air France chief executive Franck Terner.

Via three hubs – Hanoi's Noi Bai, Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat, and Paris CDG – passengers will be able to travel to 50 European destinations on Air France flights (compared with 14 today) and 20 Vietnamese destinations on the local flag carrier's services.

FlightGlobal schedules show that Vietnam Airlines and Air France are the only airlines operating direct services between Vietnam and France. Vietnam Airlines is the sole operator on the Hanoi-Paris route, conducting a six-times-weekly service with Airbus A350-900s.

Both airlines fly thrice weekly on the Ho Chi Minh City-Paris route, with Air France operating Boeing 777-300ERs and Vietnam Airlines A350-900s.

Schedules indicate that the two carriers already codeshare extensively. Air France places its code on 20 Vietnam Airlines services, including the Paris-Hanoi route. It also places its code on services from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to other Vietnamese cities, as well as to the Cambodian destinations of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

Vietnam Airlines, for its part, places its code on 30 Air France services, including the Paris-Ho Chi Minh City route. It also places its code on Air France services to destinations in France and Europe.