Vietnam Airlines launches direct route to India

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on June 15 officially opened a direct route between Vietnam and India, with its first flight departing from Hanoi and landing at the Indira Gandhi international airport in New Delhi at 2:45pm (local time).

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son cuts a symbolic ribbon to inaugurate a direct route between Hanoi and New Delhi. (Photo: VNA)
Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son cuts a symbolic ribbon to inaugurate a direct route between Hanoi and New Delhi. (Photo: VNA)

Every week, its flights between Hanoi and New Delhi are scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, while those between Ho Chi Minh City and the Indian capital Thursday and Saturday.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1972, a strategic partnership in 2007 and a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016, Vietnam and India have seen their two-way trade growing by an annual average of 20 percent.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the total number of visitors between India and Vietnam in 2019 reached 319,000, up 35 percent year-on-year. Most Vietnamese tourists visited New Delhi.