Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s national flag carrier, on January 2 officially launched a direct route linking Almaty, the country’s largest city, and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, with two flights a week, every Wednesday and Friday.

A 160-seat aircraft Boeing 757 will leave Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City at 13:00 and arrive at Almaty International Airport at 19:50 Vietnamese time.

There are also two flights from Almaty to HCM City via Bangkok (Thailand) on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Vietway Aviation Services is Air Astana’s official agent in Vietnam, in charge of ticket sales and promotion.

Air Astana is rated as the best airline of Kazakhstan and the only four-star one in Eastern Europe and among countries in the CIS community. HCM City is its third destination in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), after Bangkok (Thailand) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia ).-VNA