Catalan government and Vietnam Airlines explore options of direct Barcelona-Hanoi flight

The Catalan government and Vietnam Airlines are exploring options to establish a direct flight between Barcelona and Hanoi.

President Salvador Illa met with executives from the airline on Tuesday, and explained that the two parties have "laid the foundations" to study the connection.

If it comes to pass, Barcelona would be the first city in Spain to operate the direct route.

Illa assures that El Prat airport, despite being "very much at the limit," can accommodate the flight but that right now "the bottleneck" is the availability of planes by Vietnam Airlines.

Illa also wanted to be cautious and reminded it's necessary to go step-by-step. "I have seen interest and I think it will not be immediate, but we also want the decisions that are made to be well-founded," he pointed out.

In Vietnam, Illa met with executives of the airline and its executive vice-president, Nguyen Quang Trung. He remarked that "there is a market" to launch a direct connection between the cities, as annually there are "around 50,000 passengers" who fly from Catalonia to the capital of the Southeast Asian country.