Vladivostok Air to Fly to Hong Kong and Singapore

Vladivostok Air is to open new links to South East Asia from Russia’s Far East. Following a number of exploratory meetings with representatives of tour operators across the region, the airline has confirmed its intention to introduce a range of new flights into Asia, initially launching a link from Vladivostok to Singapore, via Hong Kong.

The route will be operated by an Airbus A320 on a twice weekly basis from September 23. There are currently no links from Vladivostok to the two destinations, although a reported 1,300 and 1,400 O&D passengers travelled between the city and Hong Kong and Singapore respectively in the past year, the majority flying with Korean Air via Seoul Incheon.

Further expansion from Vladivostok Air this winter will see the introduction of direct flights from Vladivostok to Denpasar and Ho Chi Minh City, the later destinations replacing the airline’s current flights to Cam Ranh Bay, which cannot be served using its widebodied A330 equipment due to airport restrictions. According to Vladivostok Air the new offering will “give a larger flow of tourists from Russia” and will improve access to many of the southern Vietnamese resorts.

Away from Vladivostok, the airline will offer flights from Khabarovsk to Bangkok, Cam Ranh Bay and Denpasar and will restore links to the Uzbekistan capital Tashkent. It is also planning to offer direct flights from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Anchorage “from the middle of next summer till the second decade (sic) of September 2012,” according to a statement.