The Viet Nam national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has marked 25 years of services to Russia, on the occasion of the official visit of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to the country.
At the ceremony, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh hailed the efforts of the carrier in establishing an important air bridge, opening cooperative opportunities and connection in economics, science, education, culture and tourism between the two countries.
With strategic investment, Vietnam Airlines is expected to contribute to realizing the target of bringing Viet Nam-Russia bilateral trade turnover to USD10 billion by 2020, a three-fold increase compared to the current figure.
The airlines launched the first flight to Russia on July 7th, 1993 with stops at Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh city, Dubai (UAE) or Berlin (Germany).
As scheduled, by the end 2018, the carriers will have carried about 1.6 million passengers between Viet Nam and Russia since beginning operation in the market.
Russia now ranks among the Top 10 markets sending the most tourists to Viet Nam, with a high and sustainable growth of 30% a year.
On this occasion, Russia national flag carrier Aeroflot and Vietnam Airlines signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the very first code-sharing on domestic routes in Russia and Viet Nam and expand their cooperation “across several areas of the business”.
“The MoU takes our cooperation further in the direction of a solid and mutually beneficial partnership, offering customers a wider choice of travel options and world-class quality of two leading 4-Star airlines,” said Trinh Ngoc Thanh, Executive Vice President of Vietnam Airlines.
Vietnam Airlines offers three direct flights per week between Ha Noi and Moscow, operated on Boeing 787-9 aircraft, while Aeroflot operates nine flights per week with a daily flight to Ha Noi and a twice weekly service to Ho Chi Minh city, utilizing Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 aircraft.