The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and the Sheremetyevo International Airport of Russia held a ceremony on July 2 to welcome its first flights to and from the airport.

Flight VN63, which departed from Hanoi, arrived at the Moscow-based airport on July 2 morning, while flight VN62 took off from the airport at noon the same day.

Addressing the ceremony, Chief Representative of Vietnam Airlines in Russia Le Thanh Dung said the launching of the air route was a strategic decision, helping passengers access four-star aviation services.

Denis Pashkovsky, Sheremetyevo International Airport’s Deputy General Director in charge of commercial affairs, told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) that the airport welcomes the Vietnam Airlines as a new partner.

The cooperation will help to expand aviation connectivity between Russia and Vietnam and Southeast Asia at large, he said.

The Sheremetyevo International Airport will provide the best services for passengers, who travel from Vietnam to cities of Russia and Europe by Russia’s national flag carrier Aeroflot and other members of SkyTeam, he said.

Vietnam Airlines and Aeroflot, both rated as four-star airlines, are joining hands on 11 air routes between Vietnam and Russia, and inbound flights.

Vietnam Airlines is operating three flights per week between Hanoi and Moscow, using Boeing 787 aircraft.

On the path towards a five-star carrier, Vietnam Airlines has improved the quality of services on flights to and from Russia.

Vietnam Airlines is now operating 94 routes to 21 domestic and 29 international destinations with an average of 400 flights per day, connecting the world’s major cities to travel destinations in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

In 2010, Vietnam Airlines became a member of SkyTeam – a global airline alliance whose 20 members provide access to an extensive global network of 16,609 daily flights to 1074 destinations in 177 countries. This membership reaffirmed the carrier’s position on the global aviation map.

In 2015, Vietnam Airlines became the first airline in the world to successfully operate both next-generation aircraft Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and Airbus A350-900 XWB at the same time.

The airline has spearheaded Vietnam’s aviation market – one of the fastest-growing domestic markets in the world – throughout its 20 years of development at a double-digit annual growth rate. VNA