AIR Astana started its inaugural flight to Vietnam with the launch of a twice-weekly Almaty-Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) service on January 4.
HCMC is the newest Asian destination added to Air Astana’s network, following the start of services to Hong Kong (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 31, 2012) and Beijing (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 14, 2012) as well as increases of frequency to several Asian destinations (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 23, 2012) in recent months.
The flight to HCMC will be operated via Bangkok, with a total flight time of nine hours. The return flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Almaty will be operated non-stop and take only seven hours.
Flights will initially be operated on Wednesdays and Fridays using a Boeing 757 in a 166-seat, two-class configuration. Fares from Almaty to Ho Chi Minh City start from US$590, including governmental taxes, airport fees and charges.
“Air Astana continues to grow in strength and reputation as Central Asia’s leading carrier, with the development of our Asian network being a very high priority. I’m delighted that Ho Chi Minh City is destined to become our next exciting destination from the region and confident that with its range of attractions, it will prove popular with tourists from Kazakhstan and neighbouring countries,” said Peter Foster, president of Air Astana.
