Milan Malpensa International Airport will welcome a new airline in 2025. The airport continues to attract major carriers from across the globe. The management has been very capable in leveraging Milan’s status as Italy’s financial capital and one of Europe’s fashion capitals. The new flight coming to Milan Malpensa in 2025 is Vietnam Airlines VN72 flight from and to Hanoi. Here’s all you need to know about the flight and its nuances.
Vietnam Airlines Only Italian Flight Coming to Milan in 2025
In the last weeks I’ve talked about Vietnam Airlines before. The southeast Asian carrier recently offered a frequent flyer status match which was effectively a way into SkyTeam for other alliance members. Now the news is regarding a new flight to Italy in 2025.
The airline currently doesn’t serve any destinations in Italy. Therefore, VN72 Hanoi to Milan, once launched, will be the airline’s only service to the south European country. Milan Malpensa on its side will add another carrier to an extensive list of airlines connecting the airport to far-flung destinations worldwide.
Flight VN72 will connect Milan Malpensa to Vietnam Airlines’ nothern hub in Hanoi. The Vietnamese carrier uses, as I analysed in Lufthansa’s case, a two hub model. Those two hubs are:
- Hanoi – the northern hub.
- Ho Chi Min City – the southern hub.
This structure though makes a little less sense than Lufthansa’s. Here the hubs are 100% equal status hubs with some long-haul destinations only served from Hanoi and others from Ho Chi Min City. Not a huge problem if your destination is Vietnam. Much more of a problem if you are just planning to transit in Vietnam flying with the national carrier.
However, don’t get preparing your suitcases just yet. The flight will only start serving the route from July 1st 2025.
Can I Book a Seat on Flight VN72 With Frequent Flyer Miles?
Yes, of course you can. Vietnam Airlines is a SkyTeam member. Therefore, you can book reward flights on the new Hanoi to Milan Malpensa route using either the airline’s LotusMiles loyalty program or any other of the alliance. For instance you can use Flying Blue miles if you are an Air France-KLM frequent flyer or Delta SkyMiles if you regularly fly with them. There are a lot of alternatives.
Timings and Aircraft Type for Vietnam Airlines VN72 Hanoi to Milan Flight
Let’s get into the operations of the new Vietnam Airlines flight. VN72 will operate between Hanoi and Milan Malpensa with a 3x weekly frequency. Flights will be available every:
- Tuesday
- Friday
- Saturday
| Flight Number | Departure Airport | Airport Code | Departure Time | Arrival Airport | Airport Code | Arrival Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | VN73 | Hanoi | HAN | 01:00 | Milano Malpensa | MXP | 07:40 |
| VN72 | Milano Malpensa | MXP | 12:30 | Hanoi | HAN | 04:30+1 |
As often is the case with airlines from the Middle East and Asia, the departure from Hanoi is in the early hours of the morning. Departure at 1AM with a much more comfortable arrival into Milan at 07:40 AM. I personally like this type of timing quite a bit. You arrive at the airport around 10 PM get on the plane around midnight and hope to sleep your way through the night until arriving in MXP airport.
As for the plane, the aircraft of choice is the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Vietnam Airlines operates a 19 unit fleet of the aircraft type. Those 19 are made up of both 9 and 10 variants of the aircraft.
At least initially Vietnam Airlines’ VN72 flight from Hanoi to Milan will be aboard the 787-9 variant. How do I know? Well, that is the only variant featuring a premium economy cabin and the carrier is currently selling tickets from Economy, Premium Economy, and Business Class. Therefore, it must be the 787-9.
The airlines’ Boeing 787-9s feature a cabin configuration featuring:
- 28 Business Class seats
- 35 Premium Economy seats
- 211 Economy Class seats
Business Class is setup with a 1-2-1 layout granting all passengers direct aisle access. There are no privacy sliding doors, or partitions but the reverse herringbone layout ensures that you won’t see any of your fellow passengers unless you really want to.
Premium Economy is setup with a very generous 2-3-2 layout with a lot of personal space and leg room. Finally economy class features the classic Dreamliner 3-3-3 layout.
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