Vietnam Airlines

Is Vietnam Airlines safe?

Yes. Vietnam Airlines has not had a fatal crash since 1997 and has not lost an aircraft since the Soviet-built fleet of the 1990s. It flew 156,200 flights in 2025. We score it 81. It would score higher without one event this summer: on 15 August 2026, a Boeing 787-9 left Munich from the grass beyond the end of the runway, and investigators do not yet know why.

What happened on VN34 at Munich?

VN34 was a scheduled flight from Munich to Hanoi with 271 passengers and 16 crew, including four pilots. Germany's Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) published an interim report on 28 September 2026. Its key findings:

• The take-off began from runway 26L, which is 4,000 m long. Shortly after the roll started, and again before rotation, the flight data recorded brake application from the left-seat pedals, up to 27% on the left side.
• The aircraft accelerated too slowly. The pilot monitoring added thrust manually just before rotation.
• The 787-9 rotated at 163 knots, below its calculated speed, and lifted off about 240 m past the runway end, on grass. Its tail and main wheels hit approach lights.
• It reached its safe climb speed at 76 feet, held for two hours, flew two low passes for a gear inspection and landed on the parallel runway with several tyres shredded.

Nobody was hurt. The BFU has not said whether the braking came from a pilot's feet or a fault in the brake control system, and it is testing the brake control units and electric brake actuator controllers. The cockpit voice recording had been overwritten. Vietnam's government ordered the regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), to review training, flight operations and maintenance at Vietnamese airlines.

Until the cause is known, VN34 is the main reason the incidents score is 68. A take-off that ends on the grass with a heavy widebody is one of the most dangerous outcomes short of a crash.

The older record

Vietnam Airlines' fatal crashes date from its Soviet-built era. A Yakovlev Yak-40 crashed in November 1992, killing 30 of 31 on board. On 3 September 1997, VN815, a Tupolev Tu-134, crashed on approach to Phnom Penh in fog; 65 of the 66 people on board died, and a child survived.

The airline then moved to Airbus and Boeing jets. Since 1997, the Aviation Safety Network lists no fatal accident and no aircraft written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary.

What does Vietnam Airlines fly?

Almost all its aircraft are current types:

Type	Use
Airbus A350-900	Europe, Australia, North Asia
Boeing 787-9 and 787-10	Europe, the US, Australia, busy domestic routes
Airbus A321ceo and A321neo	Domestic and regional
ATR 72	Short runways such as Con Dao

The A321neos are hit by the global Pratt & Whitney engine recall: in July 2026, 17 A321neos across Vietnamese airlines were still grounded waiting for engines. The airline sold three older A321ceos in 2024, has put further sales on hold, and plans to lease 20 narrowbodies for 2027–2028. In May 2025 it ordered 50 Boeing 737-8s for delivery from 2030 to 2032.

How good is the regulator?

Vietnam is in FAA Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary (FAA list, April 2025), which is why Vietnam Airlines can fly nonstop to San Francisco, and no Vietnamese airline is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary. Vietnam Airlines is an IATA member, so it passes an IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit every two years. The CAAV oversees a market that has grown very fast with Vietjet, Bamboo Airways and new entrants. Oversight scores 78: solid, but not at the level of Singapore or Japan.

How to fly Vietnam Airlines safely

• Keep your seat belt fastened in the typhoon season, roughly August to November in central Vietnam, when storms build quickly over the South China Sea.
• On domestic connections, check whether the flight is operated by Vietnam Airlines itself or by its low-cost affiliate Pacific Airlines, which uses its own code (BL).

How we scored it

The accident record (90) is strong: no fatal crash in nearly 30 years. Incidents (68) is the weak point because of VN34, and we will revisit it when the BFU publishes its final report. Compare Vietjet, its low-cost rival, and Thai Airways at 77.