From: Bloomberg News

HO CHI MINH CITY -- Airline passenger traffic between Vietnam and the U.S. will grow by the "low teens" annually, said an executive at United Airlines, which will begin flights to Vietnam next month.

United will be the first U.S. passenger carrier to serve the country since the end of the Vietnam War when it extends its daily San Francisco-Hong Kong flights to Ho Chi Minh City starting Dec. 10.

The market for air passengers between Vietnam and the U.S. has grown between 10 percent and 12 percent annually since 1997, reaching 300,000 passengers last year, according to Vietnam Airlines Corp. The state-owned carrier projects annual market growth of as much as 18 percent as a result of an air-service agreement signed by the countries in 2003.

"We are going to see continued double-digit growth between the U.S. and Vietnam for several years to come," United Airlines Vice President Mark Schwab said Tuesday.