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Brisbane now has direct flights to Vietnam, with the first Vietjet flight from Ho Chi Minh City arriving late last week.
Flight VJ83, on board the Airbus A330-300 VN-A810, touched down in Brisbane at 9:38pm on Friday night. The low-cost Vietnamese carrier will operate two return flights per week between Ho Chi Minh City and Brisbane and expects to offer 39,000 seats in the route’s first year.
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“Vietjet’s inaugural Brisbane services coincide with Vietnam’s booming economy and surging demand among its citizens for world-class international holiday experiences,” said Queensland Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe.
“We’re backing Vietjet with the State’s $200 million international aviation war chest for the carrier’s potential to generate almost $30 million a year for Queensland’s visitor economy and up to 370 good Queensland jobs.
“Non-stop flights from Ho Chi Minh City are also predicted to help turbocharge Queensland’s growing international student cohort from Vietnam, which has increased by 24 per cent this year.”
The service, announced in March, is the last route to be rolled out in Vietjet’s eastern Australia network. The carrier now operates eight weekly return flights across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with Sydney and Melbourne frequency to increase from September.
Speaking in March, Vietjet’s vice president, Nguyen Thanh Son, said the direct route is “a significant step towards connecting Australia and Vietnam”.
“With our recent introduced connecting services through Ho Chi Minh City and soon other Vietnamese hubs, Vietjet can bring more passengers from Asia and European countries to Australia,” he said.
“Moreover, Australians now will find it super easy and economical to fly across Asian nations across our vast international network, which serves destinations like Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, mainland China, Thailand, India, Kazakhstan, and other Vietnamese touristy coastal cities such as Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc.
“Our services would be a catalyst for the further growth of tourism and trade between the two nations in the coming year.”
Vietjet’s Sydney service, launched in April, marked a milestone for Sydney Airport, with Vietjet becoming its 50th concurrent carrier. At the time, Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert called it an “incredible achievement”.
“Attracting airline networks to rebuild capacity to Sydney is key to supporting the recovery of international tourism, business travel, student travel and the broader New South Wales economy,” Culbert said.
“As Australia marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Vietnam, it’s fitting that our 50th airline is a Vietnamese carrier.”
