Vietnam Airlines begins direct air link with Germany
HANOI - Vietnam Airlines started direct flights to Germany as part of a rapid route expansion strategy into Europe, an aviation official said.
"As from now on, the carrier will fly directly to Frankfurt twice a week from Hanoi, on Monday and Thursday and once a week from Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday," Vietnam Airlines spokesperson Nguyen Chan told AFP.
Last year the airline said it served 70,000 passengers travelling between Vietnam and Germany, an increase of up to 70 percent against previous years.
The new route is Vietnam Airlines' second direct route to Europe after Paris.
Chan also said the carrier expects to fly to Nagoya, Japan this month.
"We are scheduled to establish a direct link with Nagoya on July 29," he said.
Vietnam's second carrier Pacific Airlines said earlier that it would share the route with Vietnam Airlines, but Chan has rejected the claim.
In 2004, the state airline carried a record five million passengers, leading to a 16 percent rise in revenues to 1.1 billion dollars.
The International Air Transport Association has said Vietnam's air travel industry would grow 10.5 percent annually in the next 10 years.
Agence France Presse - July 04, 2005.
|