Vietnam Airlines, the Communist-ruled country’s national flag carrier, has been given clearance in principle to sell up to 20 per cent of its shares to several foreign strategic partners.

In a statement on a Vietnamese government website on Tuesday, Nguyen Sinh Hung, the deputy prime minister, said the carrier had been given the go-ahead to hire an international consultant for a partial privatisation that will leave 70 to 80 per cent of the company in state hands.