Czech travellers once again have a direct link to Southeast Asia after Vietjet inaugurated a Hanoi–Almaty–Prague route over the weekend. Aviation Shop Newsroom confirmed on 12 October 2026 that flight VJ31 touched down at Václav Havel Airport Prague on 10 October, operated by a 377-seat Airbus A330-300. The service runs every Tuesday and Saturday, leaving Hanoi at 08:25 and arriving in Prague at 18:55 after a technical and passenger stop in Almaty, Kazakhstan; the westbound leg departs Prague at 20:55. Prague Airport says the new link could carry more than 67 000 passengers in its first year, catering to the well-established Vietnamese community in Czechia and to growing leisure and trade flows. Travel agency Letuška.cz reports brisk early bookings, noting that the route shaves four to five hours off the typical one-stop itineraries via Doha or Dubai. Importantly for corporate mobility managers, tickets are also sold for the Prague–Almaty sector alone, creating a convenient option for Czech firms with interests in Kazakhstan’s energy and mining sectors. From a visa perspective, Czech passport holders can still obtain Vietnam’s e-visa for stays up to 90 days, while Vietnamese citizens in Czechia may apply under the Czech “digital nomad” or qualified-employee programmes introduced earlier this year. Vietjet offers through-ticketing to key Vietnamese business centres such as Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, enabling smoother onward connections for project teams. The launch strengthens Prague’s long-haul network after recent arrivals of American Airlines (Philadelphia) and Bamboo Airways (Ho Chi Minh City – refuelling in Dubai). Airport operator Letiště Praha continues to court carriers in underserved Asian markets as passenger volumes rebound toward pre-pandemic levels; management says the goal is to restore at least eight long-haul destinations by summer 2027. Travel buyers should note that the Almaty stop requires passengers to disembark for security screening, so total journey time is around 15½ hours eastbound. Corporate contracts may need to factor in the single-cabin, high-density seating of Vietjet’s A330 when defining premium-class policy exceptions for trips over eight hours.
Source: Aviation Shop Newsroom
