US'United Airlines is helping promote Vietnam as a key destination by featuring the country in its airline magazine, said the head of United Airlines’ representative office in Ho Chi Minh City.

We are now contributing to the promotion of Vietnamese tourism to the world, said Joe Mannix in a recent news briefing.

The airline, which became the first American carrier to land in Vietnam in 30 years, recently published a 12-page feature entitled “Three perfect days in HCM City” in the first 2005 edition of its Hemispheres Magazine.

The magazine is placed behind every passenger seat of our 485 aircrafts and is read by millions of travellers, said Mr Mannix.

The number of passengers flying the airline’s recently-launched San Francisco – HCM City route increased dramatically during the Solar and Lunar New Year, he added.

Most of our passengers were overseas Vietnamese, said Mr Mannix, adding that he believed the airline would have a successful business year.

Last month, United Airlines officially opened a new booking office in Hanoi. Thus, Hanoi passengers no longer need to fly to HCM City first before going to the U.S. with a stopover in Hong Kong. They can now fly directly from Hanoi to Hong Kong before going to the US, he said.

Mr Mannix also announced that United Airlines planned to submit to the Vietnamese government a proposal to launch a Hanoi - San Francisco route.