Vietnam Airlines launches direct flights to UK

Vietnam Airlines will launch direct flights between the UK’s London and Vietnam’s Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from December 8, the flag carrier announced on December 1.
There will be four flights per week, operating on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with Boeing 777 aircraft.
The flights will depart from Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport and HCMC’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport at 23:30 and from London’s Gatwick airport at 12:20 (local time). The travel time will be 12 hours, a seven hour reduction compared to flights with one transit stop.
With the launch of the new route, Vietnam Airlines will operate a total of eight direct routes between Vietnam and Europe.
On this occasion, Vietnam Airlines offers a promotion price of VND20.9 million (US$999) for individual passengers from Vietnam to London who buy return tickets from now until March 31, 2012 and depart between January 1, 2012, to March 31, 2012.
The national carrier is expected to raise its number of flights from Vietnam to the UK to seven per week by 2015.
The new flight route is said to help improve the airline’s competitiveness and implement its strategy to become one of major airlines in the region.