Vietjet launches twice-weekly Prague–Hanoi service, opening direct bridge between Czechia and Southeast Asia

Vietnamese low-cost carrier Vietjet Air has inaugurated regular passenger flights between Václav Havel Airport Prague and Hanoi’s Nội Bài International Airport, its first scheduled connection to continental Europe. The inaugural flight touched down on 10 October and the airline will operate the route every Tuesday and Saturday with 377-seat Airbus A330-300 aircraft. Services include a technical stop in Almaty, Kazakhstan, allowing passengers to book Prague–Almaty tickets and giving the Kazakh business community a one-stop link to both Vietnam and the European Union. For Czechia, the link is strategically important. The Vietnamese diaspora is the country’s third-largest foreign community and bilateral trade topped €1.6 billion in 2025. Direct flights cut journey times by at least four hours compared with the previous hub-and-spoke options via Doha or Dubai, making short business trips and family visits far more feasible. Prague Airport estimates that more than 67,000 passengers will use the service in its first 12 months, helping the airport recover long-haul traffic lost during the pandemic and diversify beyond its North-American leisure focus. Corporate travel managers also welcome the route because Vietjet’s interline agreements provide onward connections from Hanoi to 40+ Asian destinations, offering Czech exporters fast access to manufacturing clusters in Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Singapore and Sydney. Cargo capacity in the A330 belly holds—around 12 tonnes per flight—creates a new option for high-value e-commerce and automotive components that previously relied on slower sea freight via Hamburg. From an immigration standpoint, the service is expected to increase demand for short-stay Schengen visas at the Czech embassy in Hanoi. Prague Airport and the Interior Ministry’s Foreign Police Department confirmed that additional Vietnamese-language signage and e-gate staff were deployed in time for the launch. They will also test Entry/Exit System (EES) equipment on the new flight before the EU-wide system goes live next year. Looking ahead, Vietjet says it could up-gauge to daily flights if load factors exceed 80 percent and bilateral air-services talks allow fifth-freedom rights beyond Prague. Travel industry analysts note that the move puts competitive pressure on Qatar Airways and Emirates, which have dominated Southeast Asia traffic from Czechia for a decade.