AUSTRALIA plays an important role in VietJet Air’s business strategy, Vice President Do Xuan Quang told travelBulletin, as the carrier celebrated its launch in the country earlier this month.
Four-hundred passengers were warmly welcomed in Sydney by VietJet representatives, as well as the Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh, following the arrival of the airline’s inaugural flight to SYD – the airport’s 50th airline.
VietJet also commenced flights from Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh City earlier this month, with the arrival of the Sydney flight marking the beginning of the airline’s six weekly return flights from Australia to Vietnam.
Two Brisbane services per week will commence from June, and from there, VietJet will monitor demand to potentially go daily on the Sydney and Melbourne routes by the end of the year.
This may also precipitate the launch of flights to Perth and Adelaide, Do told travelBulletin.
“We are happy, but we need to increase the frequency to daily flights by the end of the year,” he said.
“We are studying the market situation now, so when the market feedback is good and positive, we can fly.”
To celebrate its launch, Vietjet is offering a fare discount of 50% for its SkyBoss and SkyBoss Business until 05 May for dates until 12 December.
Sydney now boasts the highest number of airlines flying to it in its 103-year history, with VietJet the sixth carrier the airport has onboarded in the last 12 months, and SYD’s fourth flying to Vietnam.
Further highlighting Sydney’s strength of recovery from COVID, international passenger numbers continue to grow, with the Easter school holidays forecast to be 85% recovered compared to pre-pandemic.
Sydney Airport Chief Executive Officer Geoff Culbert said the half-century is an incredible achievement when considering air travel was almost non-existent during COVID, when SYD had only 20 airlines flying through it.
“We’re thrilled to welcome VietJet to Sydney Airport, as the airline will be providing a further low-cost option to this sought-after and popular destination,” he said.
“The Vietnam market has experienced a strong surge in capacity and demand, with passenger volumes 14% above pre-COVID levels in March 2023.
“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.”
