Vietnam Airlines starts operations in Russia’s Sheremetyevo airport

Russian art performance in the ceremony welcoming the first flight of Vietnam Airlines to Sheremetyevo International Airport on Tuesday.-VNA/VNS Photo Hong Quan

Flight VN63, which departed from Hanoi, arrived at the Moscow-based airport on Tuesday morning, while flight VN62 to Vietnam's capital took off from the airport at noon the same day.

At the ceremony welcoming the first flight here, chief representative of Vietnam Airlines in Russia Le Thanh Dung said the air route would help passengers access four-star aviation services.

Denis Pashkovsky, Sheremetyevo International Airport’s deputy general director in charge of commercial affairs, told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) that the airport welcomes Vietnam Airlines as a new partner.

The co-operation would help to expand aviation connectivity between Russia and Vietnam and Southeast Asia, he said.

Sheremetyevo is Russia's largest airport in terms of passenger and freight traffic, take-off and landing operations and the capacity of the cargo facilities.

The Sheremetyevo International Airport would provide top services for passengers travelling from Vietnam to cities of Russia and Europe by Russia’s national flag carrier Aeroflot and other members of SkyTeam, he said.

Vietnam Airlines and Aeroflot, both rated as four-star airlines, are working together on 11 air routes between Vietnam and Russia, and inbound flights.

Vietnam Airlines runs three flights per week between Hanoi and Moscow, using Boeing 787 aircraft.

Aiming to become a five-star carrier, Vietnam Airlines has improved the quality of services on flights to and from Russia.

Vietnam Airlines now operates 94 routes to 21 domestic and 29 international destinations with an average of 400 flights per day, connecting the world’s major cities to travel destinations in Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

In 2010, Vietnam Airlines became a member of SkyTeam – a global airline alliance whose 20 members provide access to an extensive global network of 16,609 daily flights to 1074 destinations in 177 countries.