Major new Asian direct route for Gatwick
Vietnam Airlines will launch direct services from London Gatwick to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City this winter.
The airline will operate four flights a week, eventually increasing to a double daily service, starting in early December from the North Terminal.
A Boeing 777-200ER will carry up to 309 passengers across three classes, business, upper economy and economy.
More than five million tourists visited Vietnam last year.
Gatwick Airport’s chief executive Stewart Wingate said: “These new long-haul routes are exciting news for Gatwick and for the 90,000 UK holidaymakers who travel to Vietnam each year who, this winter for the first time, will be able to fly direct to Vietnam. Â
“With Gatwick offering the first direct route to Vietnam’s two major cities, this provides a real opportunity for UK business to build and develop trading links in the South East Asian markets.
“We’re working hard to deliver a great service and a wider choice of destinations to passengers, as we compete to grow and become London’s airport of choice. Today’s announcement demonstrates our headway in fulfilling these ambitions.”
Vietnam Airlines chief executive Pham Ngoc Minh said: “Launching the first direct route between Vietnam and the United Kingdom is a breakthrough in our European route development strategy.
“This will create favourable conditions for development and cooperation between the two countries, as well as between Vietnam and the European Community as a whole in terms of  trade, investment, education and cultural exchange.â€
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by Dinah Hatch
Dinah
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