VietJet Air will start thrice-weekly flights between Melbourne and Ho Chi Minh City in early April 2023, marking the first time the Vietnamese airline will fly into Melbourne Airport and the latest international carrier for the Victorian hub.
VietJet will initially operate three return flights per week on Airbus A330 aircraft with plans to provide a daily service by December 2024.
Prior to the pandemic, VietJet was to fly from Avalon Aiport however the latest announcement states that the low-cost carrier will operate from Tullamarine instead.
Services will offer a Melbourne evening departure, allowing travellers to land in Ho Chi Minh in the morning and providing seamless connections to domestic destinations or facilitating a day of business in Vietnam.
Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus said the new service will provide even more capacity between Melbourne and the popular Vietnamese city.
“We are thrilled to welcome VietJet to Melbourne for the first time and be part of their plans for expansion in Australia,” she said.
“Vietnam is both a really popular destination and an important source market and the addition of VietJet increases total Vietnam seat capacity this year to 153 per cent of what it was pre-COVID.”
VietJet Air operates more than 120 domestic and international routes, which Ms Argus said will also facilitate low-cost connections to other Asian destinations.
“With its extensive international network, VietJet can also offer low-cost onward flight options to destinations including India, Japan and South Korea via Ho Chi Minh City.”
VietJet recently ranked in the top 20 list of the world’s safest low-cost airlines for 2023, according to AirlineRatings.com.
Garuda Indonesia recently resumed its Melbourne–Bali Denpasar and Melbourne–Jakarta routes, upping the capacity from MEL.
To find out more, visit melbourneairport.com.au
