Vietjet increases international routes

HANOI Vietjet will launch two international routes connecting Hanoi with Taipei, 30 October and Ho Chi Minh City with Kaohsiung, 12 December.

It is also studying new routes in Thailand, which could possible include a service to the southern island of Phuket and Chiang Rai in the far north of Thailand.

The airline has not confirmed reports that appeared in Bangkok’s local media, last week, but it has confirmed it is about to launch a joint venture airline Thai VietJet, this week, at a press conference to be held in the Thai capital.

That joint-venture airline will serve domestic routes, while Vietjet is considering adding more international flights to Thailand to feed into the domestic partner’s network.

Airports of Thailand, that manages Chiang Rai’s airport, is understood to be cutting its airline fees and landing costs for foreign airlines prepared to launch a service to Chiang Rai.  HK Express confirmed, last month, that it would start a twice weekly service from Hong Kong in November.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s office in Chiang Rai is leading promotional activities and offering marketing support to draw airlines to the far north. It is also spearheading efforts to build travel content and improve services and marketing know-how as part of its partnership with the Airports of Thailand established last year through a MoU.

Vietjet confirms that its new Hanoi-Taipei will be served daily with a flight time of two hours 45 minutes.

The flight will take off from Hanoi at 1415 and land in Taipei at 1800. The return flight will depart at 1910 and arrive in Hanoi at 2055. All times are local.

Ho Chi Minh City-Kaohsiung will be served by five weekly flights, starting 12 December on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

The flight taking three hours and 30 minutes will depart from Ho Chi Minh City at 0210 and land in Kaohsiung at 0630. The return flight will take off at 0815 and land in Ho Chi Minh City at 1045.

The airline will also increase its Ho Chi Minh City-Tainan service from five flights to daily. The flight time is three hours and 15 minutes.

The flight will depart Ho Chi Minh City at 1030 and arrive in Tainan at 1445. The return flight will take off at 1545 and land at 1800. All times are local.

Vietjet operates 53 routes in Vietnam and international flights to Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, China and Myanmar.

Currently, the airline has a fleet of 40 aircraft, including A320s and A321s, and operates 300 flights each day.

The airline has carried nearly 25 million passengers to date.