In , US President Bill Clinton lifted the trade embargo to allow Vietnam Airlines the ability to acquire Western-built aircraft. Consequently, Vietnam Airlines announced in April of the same year that it would be phasing out its inefficient Soviet planes. By , the fleet consisted of Airbus A320s (all of them leased from Air France), Antonov An-24s, ATR72s, Boeing 707-300s, Ilyushin Il-18s, Tupolev Tu-134s and Yakovlev Yak-40s; at this time the route network comprised domestic destinations (including Ban Me Thuot, Da Nang, Dien Bien Phu, Hue, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc and Pleiku) and international destinations (including Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore). During 1996, Vietnam Airlines looked for aircraft which would substitute the A320s wet-leased from Air France when the deal was over. Apart from acquiring further A320s, the airline considered Boeing 737s and McDonnell Douglas MD-90s. In , GECAS delivered the of Boeing 767-300ER to the carrier, on dry-lease for years. In the same year, Boeing 767-300ERs and a Boeing 767-200, on lease from AWAS and Royal Brunei Airlines, respectively, were returned to the lessors, but in early another Boeing 767-300ER was phased in on a one-year lease from AWAS. With its freedom to operate Western-built aircraft, Vietnam Airlines considered the acquisition of long-haul aircraft to better service Vietnamese living overseas. The Airbus A340, Boeing 747 and the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 were topics of discussion. Meanwhile, two Fokker 70s were acquired in May and July to replace the twelve Tupolev Tu-134s. On 3 September 1997, the crash of a Tupolev Tu-134B, on approach to Phnom Penh Pochentong Airport in bad weather, resulted in more than fatalities.