The arrival of one other low-cost Vietnamese provider to Australia this yr ought to assist to push down worldwide fares to the South-East Asian vacation spot.

Vietjet will use Melbourne as its launching pad into the Australian market, with companies between Melbourne and Ho Chi Minh Metropolis commencing from April.

It would change into the fourth provider to fly the Melbourne-Ho Chi Minh route, with the added competitors excellent news for budget-conscious flyers.

Melbourne Airport chief government Lorie Argus stated: “The truth that it’ll be the fourth provider now flying [to] Ho Chi Minh Metropolis out of Melbourne … that may do nothing however be an ideal consequence for the traveller, for the competitors that that can deliver to the market.”

Though bookings aren’t but open, Argus stated she anticipated to see aggressive airfares on the route.

Vietjet will initially function three return continuous flights per week between Melbourne and the Vietnamese metropolis, with plans to ramp as much as every day companies by December 2024.

The airline will fly an Airbus A330 on the route.

Argus stated Vietnam is a crucial progress marketplace for Australia, with Vietjet’s arrival in Melbourne to push seat capability to the nation to 153 per cent of pre-pandemic ranges.

Vietjet is the second Vietnamese airline to launch companies to Melbourne since borders reopened, following Bamboo Airways’ arrival in April 2022. Current companies from Vietnam Airways and Jetstar have additionally resumed. Each Bamboo Airways and Vietjet will set up their nationwide headquarters in Melbourne.

Previous to the pandemic, state figures present an estimated 53,500 guests to Victoria have been from Vietnam. Vietnam was the tenth hottest vacation spot for Australian residents in 2022, with near 100,000 guests as much as October final yr, although this was nonetheless 65 per cent under the identical interval in 2019 earlier than the pandemic. 

The nation can also be a serious supply marketplace for worldwide college students for the state, with round 9500 Vietnamese college students enrolled in Victorian establishments.

“Vietnam is likely one of the prime 5 markets for worldwide college students for the nation but it surely’s additionally one of many largest markets for worldwide college students for Victoria. So this simply continues to ensure that we get these worldwide college students into Australia,” stated Argus.

Vietjet’s flights are anticipated so as to add greater than 136,000 seats to Melbourne yearly, and increase the state economic system by $97 million annually as soon as totally operational.

The provider’s arrival will be a part of a wave of low-cost carriers with newly-launched Asian routes to Australia, serving to to take strain off sky-high fares brought on by pent-up demand and capability constraints.

Jetstar’s inaugural flight from Seoul to Sydney commenced in November, adopted by the resumption of AirAsia X’s continuous companies from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne and Perth, and the return of its KL-Auckland through Sydney route. The inaugural T’manner Air Sydney-Seoul service and Thai AirAsia X’s first flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Bangkok additionally took off in December.

See additionally: Airline evaluate: Bamboo Airways’ first Australian routes supply enterprise class on a budget

See additionally: Low cost(er) flights to Thailand as two new routes take off