VietJet Air's plan to launch a new route between Hanoi and Prague, Czech Republic via Almaty has received approval from Kazakhstan's aviation regulator for the technical stop at Almaty.
VietJet Air's plan to launch a new route between Hanoi and Prague, Czech Republic via Almaty has received approval from Kazakhstan's aviation regulator for the technical stop at Almaty.
According to a report from the VnExpress published on March 24, Kazakhstan's Civil Aviation Committee confirmed the Vietnam-based budget airline's plan to use Almaty as a technical stop for its twice-weekly flights between Hanoi and Prague. VietJet plans to launch the new route on July 11 using widebody Airbus A330 aircraft.
The new route will be operated under Kazakhstan's open skies regime, using Fifth Freedom rights on the Almaty-Prague segment. Vietjet will be able to sell tickets to and carry passengers between Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic, along with the entire flight between Hanoi and Prague.
At present, there are no direct air links between Vietnam and the Czech Republic where according to Sabre Market Intelligence data the O&D traffic between the two countries had 89,300 two-way passengers in 2025. Prague-Hanoi accounted for a majority 72% of the total traffic, followed by Doha, Dubai, and Istanbul as the largest connecting markets.
With the planned launch of flights to Almaty, Vietjet will also strengthen its presence in Kazakhstan where it operates its joint venture VietJet Qazaqstan with Qazaq Air. Based in Astana, VietJet Qazaqstan (formerly Qazaq Air) currently operates a fleet of five Bombardier DHC-8-400 turboprop aircraft on domestic and regional routes to cities in Russia, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
The new route is pending final approvals for launch.
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