Israeli airline Arkia on Monday inaugurated the first non-stop service from Tel Aviv to Vietnam.
The latest expansion by the Israeli carrier comes one month after starting direct flights to Thailand and follows the successful launch of direct flights to New York last year.
Arkia is offering a weekly flight to the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, which will become biweekly in March, while it is now operating twice-weekly flights to the Thai capital of Bangkok, with additional flights to the popular Thai island of Phuket scheduled to begin in July.
Fares to Vietnam will begin at $699 each way in economy class, while flights to Bangkok—where it is competing head-on against Israeli flag carrier El Al—start at $499 one-way.
The move comes as Israelis are flying to Thailand and Vietnam in record numbers amid a resurgence of the Israeli aviation sector.
Arkia is the third-largest Israeli carrier after El Al and Israir.
