The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on Monday announced its promotion programme on direct flights to the United Kingdom, reports Vietnam News Agency (VNA). The promotion programme, under which return tickets are sold at the price of 12,500,000 VND (roughly US$599), including taxes and other charges, is to mark the opening of the Vietnam-UK direct air route in December. The discount price is applied to tickets sold from Sept 15 to Oct 15 for flights departing from Dec 8 to Dec 31. The national flag carrier said it will operate four flights per week from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Gatwick airport in London as from Dec 8 using Boeing 777 aircraft. With the two new routes, London will become Vietnam Airlines\' fourth gateway to Europe.