Akasa Air officially inaugurated the direct Mumbai-Hanoi route on September 4, becoming the first Indian airline to operate non-stop flights between the two cities.
The service will operate four times a week and represents the airline's first destination in Vietnam. Hanoi also becomes Akasa Air's seventh international destination and its second in Southeast Asia after Phuket, Thailand.
The launch ceremony at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai was attended by Vietnamese Ambassador to India Trinh Minh Manh, Vietnamese Consul General in Mumbai Le Quang Bien, Akasa Air co-founder and chief commercial officer Anand Srinivasan, and Bhavin Joshi, the airline's co-founder and senior vice-president for strategy.
Speaking at the event, Ambassador Trinh Minh Manh said the new route would provide a convenient transport link between two major cities while creating new opportunities for tourism, trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges between Vietnam and India.
The inaugural flight, QP625, departed Mumbai at 5.35 am on September 4 and arrived at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi at 12 pm local time. The return service, flight QP626, departed Hanoi at 1.30 pm.
The route is operated using a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with a flight time of approximately five hours.
The launch comes amid growing travel demand between the two countries, particularly as increasing numbers of Indian tourists choose Vietnam as a destination.
The addition of another Indian airline on the Mumbai-Hanoi route is expected to provide passengers with greater choice while expanding direct air connectivity between the two markets.