Published:  10:10 Friday - December 16, 2016

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines opened its general sales office in Prague, the Czech Republic on December 14 in a move to expand its foothold in the country.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Vietnamese Ambassador to the Czech Republic Truong Manh Son, Chairman of the Union of Vietnamese Associations in Europe Hoang Dinh Thang, Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese Community in the Czech Republic Giang Thanh, and representatives of travel agencies and tour operators in the Czech Republic.

Addressing the event, Ambassador Truong Manh Son introduced the rich potential of Vietnam’s tourism, expressing his hope that the opening of a Vietnam Airlines’ office will boost tourism links between the two countries.

According to Nguyen Quoc Phuong, director of the Vietnam Airlines' representative office in Europe, the launching of the Czech office is part of the airlines’ market research plan to develop trade partners and to prepare for the opening of a return direct air route between Hanoi and Prague in the foreseeable future.

The carrier has served over 20 million passengers thus far this year. Last year, Vietnam Airlines became the first Asia-Pacific airline to add modern airplane models, including the Boeing 787-9 and the Airbus-900, to its fleet on air routes from Hanoi to London, Paris and Frankfurt.