Vietjet touches down in Europe as Hanoi to Prague flights take off

Vietjet’s first scheduled flight into Europe landed at Prague’s Václav Havel Airport on Saturday, opening the first regular air link between the Czech capital and Hanoi in the country’s modern history and turning the plans we reported back in May into a working route.

The Vietnamese carrier flies the service every Tuesday and Saturday on an Airbus A330-300 with 377 seats, stopping in Almaty, Kazakhstan for around 90 minutes in each direction. Flights leave Hanoi at 08:25 and reach Prague at 18:55 local time, while the return departs Prague at 20:55 and arrives in Hanoi at 16:20 the following day.

Whilst initially reported as a technical stop, the Almaty stop is actually more than that, because Kazakhstan has granted Vietjet fifth-freedom rights. In aviation terms, a fifth freedom is the right for an airline to carry paying passengers between two foreign countries on a flight that starts or ends in its home country, which in this case means a Vietnamese airline can sell tickets between Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic as part of its Hanoi service.

That gives Czech travellers a new budget option into Central Asia and builds on Vietjet’s growing presence in Kazakhstan, where parent company Sovico Group took a controlling stake in QAZAQ AIR in 2025.

Who will fly it

Prague Airport has pushed hard for this link, and the numbers explain why. More than 75,000 passengers travelled between Prague and Hanoi in 2025 on connecting flights through Gulf and Asian hubs, driven largely by the Czech Republic’s Vietnamese community of around 70,000 people. The airport expects the route to carry more than 67,000 passengers in its first year, with family visits leading demand alongside tourism and business travel.

Price will play a big part in winning that traffic. Vietjet’s launch Eco fares start from US$405 one way including taxes, while Deluxe fares from US$459 bundle 40kg of checked baggage, 10kg of carry-on, hot meals, seat selection and flexible changes. We found the cheapest October return on the route via a connecting carrier sat at around US$900 with Qatar Airways, which puts Vietjet’s all-in pricing in a strong position against the one-stop Gulf options, but we are also comparing a premium carrier with a hybrid airline.

Passengers who want more comfort can book SkyBoss, the airline’s premium cabin on the A330, which adds upgraded seating, priority services and a larger baggage allowance while staying within the low-cost model.

More of Europe to come

Vietjet chief executive Nguyen Thanh Son has said further European routes are planned, connecting both Vietnam and Thailand with the continent. The fleet plan backs that up. Vietjet now has 40 Airbus A330-900neos on order, and with a range of up to 13,300km the type should eventually let the airline fly nonstop deeper into Western Europe without a stop along the way.

Prague also gives Vietjet a useful foothold as the airport’s first Southeast Asian destination, joining its only other direct links into Asia with Beijing, Seoul and Taipei.

Vietjet holds a seven-star safety rating from AirlineRatings.com and earned the World’s Best Ultra Low Cost Carrier title for 2026, its ninth consecutive year with the award.

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