Vietnam Airlines has announced the arrival of its 12th Airbus A350 this week, the first aircraft in the series to feature the SkyTeam Alliance livery.

Discussing the new SkyTeam colours emblazoning the fuselage of the plane, Vietnam Airlines, executive vice president, Le Hong Ha, said: “The unified livery demonstrates the vision and mission of Vietnam Airlines to bring increased benefits to customers through international integration, bilateral and multilateral cooperation with other airlines and global alliances.

“The special paint scheme is also part of Vietnam Airlines’ ongoing effort to provide a new flying experience to passengers and accomplish its goal of becoming the largest airline in Asia-Pacific”.

Vietnam Airlines has been a member of the SkyTeam since 2010, viewing the alliance as being an essential aspect of the carrier’s future. Particularly in when it comes to passenger service, with business class fliers and Lotusmiles members both eligible for priority check-in, boarding, immigration and security check and baggage collection, as part of the SkyPriority chain, available at all SkyTeam affiliated airports.

Perry Cantarutti, SkyTeam’s chief executive officer and managing director (below), said: “As a valued member of SkyTeam for over eight years, we would like to congratulate Vietnam Airlines on the delivery of their 12th and very beautiful A350. We are of course, extra proud of this particular plane as it will fly the SkyTeam livery around the world. We look forward to seeing it on the runway and in the skies.”

The new aircraft comes as part of a deal which for Airbus supply 14 A350s to the airline by the end of 2019, which comes on top of an order for ten A350’s signed in 2016.

At the time, the long range abilities of the A350 were cited by Vietnam Airlines president & CEO Duong Tri Thanh, to be part of a strategy for transcontinental flights to the US. However, as yet, there has been no official announcement as to when these services will start.