[ti:Vietnam Airlines Can Now Fly Directly to US] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]United States officials decided last week [00:03.88]to let Vietnam fly passenger airplanes directly to U.S. airports. [00:10.92]The decision is seen as another sign of international recognition [00:15.84]for the Southeast Asian country. [00:19.36]The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) [00:22.88]announced on February 14 [00:25.48]that it has awarded a "Category 1" rating for Vietnam. [00:31.20]The rating means that Vietnamese companies [00:34.48]have met international guidelines for air safety. [00:39.92]And Vietnamese airlines can get permits from the FAA [00:44.92]to fly directly to the United States [00:48.16]and "carry the codes of U.S. carriers." [00:53.00]Vietnam's Communist Party news website Nhan Dan reported [00:58.20]that Vietnamese officials began working toward this goal in 2012. [01:04.48]They set out to solve 49 safety problems [01:08.34]that the FAA found a year later, the website said. [01:13.64]The FAA said its "Category 1" rating for Vietnam [01:18.04]is based on an assessment made in August 2018. [01:24.36]In order to keep the rating, [01:26.60]Vietnam must follow international safety standards [01:30.48]for aircraft operations and maintenance. [01:35.24]Adam McCarthy is chief economist with Mekong Economics, [01:39.84]a development advisory service based in Hanoi. [01:44.64]He noted, "It's been a slow and progressive [01:48.40]bringing back [of] Vietnam into the international community." [01:53.72]Last month, Vietnam officially joined the 11-country [01:58.26]Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership. [02:03.32]The trade agreement covers about 13.5 percent of the world economy. [02:10.72]The European Union is also expected [02:13.61]to negotiate its own trade deal with Vietnam. [02:18.48]These developments are expected to bring additional investment [02:22.76]to the Vietnamese economy. [02:25.76]Foreign investment has fueled Vietnam's economic growth [02:29.89]of 6 to 7 percent a year since 2012. [02:35.08]The growth is set to expand the middle class [02:38.64]to about one-third of the country's 93 million population [02:43.56]by next year, the Boston Consulting Group estimates. [02:48.84]And Vietnamese are spending some of their new wealth on airfares. [02:55.36]In 2017, Vietnam had 94 million air passengers, [03:00.76]including 13 million foreign nationals. [03:04.44]That was 16 percent higher than the number a year earlier. [03:10.32]The International Air Transport Association [03:13.80]projects the country will become the world's [03:16.84]fifth fastest growing aviation market by 2035. [03:22.52]The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the United States [03:26.66]is home to about 2.1 million people of Vietnamese ancestry in 2017. [03:34.68]Many came after the former, U.S.-supported South Vietnam [03:39.44]lost to the Communist north in the 1970s. [03:44.88]Song Seng Wun is an economist with CIMB in Singapore. [03:50.84]He said, "There are [Vietnamese] residents in the U.S. itself, [03:56.16]so that alone would be good enough [03:58.18]for airline connections if they see fit to." [04:02.00]The Nhan Dan website noted that about 30,000 Vietnamese students [04:08.31]travel to the United States each year. [04:12.12]And there will be more travelers [04:14.50]as trade between the two countries expands. [04:19.60]In the past, American carriers, [04:22.56]such as United Airlines and Delta Airlines, [04:26.40]operated direct flights to Vietnam. [04:30.48]But they suspended those flights because of cost consideration. [04:35.96]In addition to the national carrier Vietnam Airlines, [04:40.24]Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways [04:43.60]have also included flights to the U.S. in their plans. [04:48.96]However, the companies will need to add airplanes [04:52.72]that can fly non-stop to the U.S. [04:57.12]I'm Jonathan Evans. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM