Vietnamese airline VietJet Air has launched flights on the Hanoi — Almaty — Prague route. The first aircraft arrived in the Czech capital on October 10, carrying about 200 Kazakh citizens on board. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Flights twice a week
Flights operate twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The route uses wide-body Airbus A330-300 aircraft with a capacity of up to 377 passengers. According to the airline and Prague's Vaclav Havel Airport, passengers can buy tickets for the separate Prague — Almaty leg.
Opening ceremony
Employees of the Kazakh embassy took part in the ceremony marking the launch of the flight at Prague Airport. Radomir Lasak, chairman of the airport's board of directors, said the launch of regular service with Hanoi expands the network of international long-haul transportation.
"We expect the new routes to carry more than 67,000 passengers in both directions in the first year of operation," Lasak said.
Diplomatic assessment
The embassy noted that the route connects Southeast and Central Asia with Europe and expands opportunities for tourist, business and cultural exchanges between Kazakhstan, Vietnam and the Czech Republic.
According to the diplomatic mission's assessment, the new air link also creates additional conditions for strengthening trade, economic and interregional ties and for developing joint initiatives in tourism, trade and investment. The route will be available to entrepreneurs, tourists, students and citizens visiting relatives and friends.
March announcement
Kursiv wrote that VietJet Air had announced the Hanoi — Almaty — Prague route back in March. The carrier said at the time that Deluxe class tickets on the Almaty — Hanoi and Almaty — Prague routes would cost from 185,000 tenge one way.