Gatwick airport is to get a boost to its long-haul services with the expected resumption of flights from Korean Air and an increased frequency from Vietnam Airlines.
Korean Air is expected to recommence its seasonal flights from Seoul next month, while Vietnam Airlines will add another flight to Ho Chi Minh City.
Korean Air began flying from Gatwick in April last year but suspended flights in December amid uncertainty that they would be reinstated. However, sales manager Peter Barron said the reappearance of the airline at Gatwick – possibly as soon as next month - was likely.
“We are waiting confirmation of the schedule, the likelihood is it will be operating this summer,” he said.
Barron added that the Gatwick service would be aimed more at leisure travellers from Asia than UK-originating business traffic, which prefers the airline’s Heathrow service.
Meanwhile, Vietnam Airlines has confirmed a fifth weekly service from Gatwick, increasing its Ho Chi Minh City route from two to three flights a week. The airline will also continue to serve Hanoi twice a week. Flights operate non-stop except in the low season periods of April, May, September and October, when they are via Frankfurt.
Gatwick will also gain the UK’s first direct route to Indonesia, said to be South East Asia’s largest economy, in October. Six flights a week to Jakarta will be operated by Garuda Indonesia. The inbound flight, at around fourteen and a half hours, is thought to be the longest of any UK air route.