Vietjet will suspend its Sydney-Hanoi and Melbourne-Hanoi flights within the next six weeks, just over a year after the airline commenced both routes.
On 28 September, Vietjet will call time on its Sydney-Hanoi service, after launching the route in mid-June 2024. According to the airline, on 4 October, the low-cost carrier will also wind up its Melbourne-Hanoi service after commencing the route in early June 2024. Both services currently operate twice per week.
The airline told Karryon the move is part of a “consolidation of Vietjet services from Melbourne, among other airports”, which it says will be a positive step for travellers flying to Vietnam.
“Services linking Melbourne and Sydney with Hanoi will be operated via connections in Ho Chi Minh City from October 2025,” it said in a later statement.
Vietjet’s Australia-Hanoi flights were launched during a period of rapid growth for the airline. In April 2023, the budget airline launched in Australia with nonstop journeys between Melbourne and Ho Chi Minh City (SGN), followed later that month by Sydney-SGN flights, and in June, Brisbane-SGN services.
After a series of frequency upgrades, the carrier launched flights to Perth and Adelaide on the same day in late 2023, before the South Australian capital became the first Aussie route to be dropped in September 2024.
With Vietjet’s Hanoi services cancelled, rival Vietnam Airlines becomes the only carrier to connect Australia and the Vietnamese capital with nonstop flights.
Saigon surge
In positive news for the LCC, Vietjet will up services to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane to Ho Chi Minh City later this year, increasing Melbourne flights from five to six weekly on 10 November and then from six weekly to daily services on 5 December; Sydney flights will grow from five to six weekly on 12 November and then from six weekly to daily on 6 December, while Brisbane flights will increase from four to five per week from 5 December 2025.
Vietjet’s three weekly Ho Chi Minh-Perth route remains unchanged.
The carrier flies its Airbus A330-300 aircraft to all of its Aussie ports.
Surprise suspension?
The termination of Vietjet’s Hanoi routes comes as Aussies flock to Vietnam.
Now an established top 10 overseas destination for Aussie travellers, Vietnam saw a whopping 27.5% increase in Australian short-term visits for the year to June 2025, the highest growth rate for any country, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) latest monthly report on outbound and inbound travel.
Booking platform Klook also recently revealed that between March and June 2025, hotel bookings in Vietnam grew by 250 per cent and activities rose by at least 170 per cent.
