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Jetstar has resumed direct flights between Australia and Vietnam for the first time in five years.
Flight JQ63, operated with Boeing 787-8 VH-VKH took off from Melbourne Tullamarine a little after 1545 on Wednesday bound for Ho Chi Minh City.
The Qantas-owned low-cost carrier (LCC) will operate three flights a week from Melbourne and four flights a week from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City.
Jetstar last served Vietnam in 2012, when it ended narrowbody flights on the Darwin-Ho Chi Minh City route. Previously, the LCC also had a short-lived Airbus A330-200 service from Australia’s east coast to Ho Chi Minh City.
“There is enormous potential for Vietnam to become one of the most popular destinations for Australian travellers thanks to its wonderful year-round climate and great beaches, food and culture,” Jetstar Australia and New Zealand chief executive Dean Salter said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We are already the biggest Australian carrier operating into Bali, Phuket and Hawaii – Vietnam is the next step in expanding our international network for budget conscious travellers.”
Jetstar, whose 787-8s are configured with 21 business and 314 economy class seats, joins Vietnam Airlines in offering nonstop flights between Australia and Vietnam. The Vietnamese flag carrier and Skyteam alliance member has daily services to both Melbourne and Sydney from its Ho Chi Minh City hub in addition to three flights a week linking Sydney and Hanoi.
Qantas, which owns 100 per cent of Jetstar Australia and New Zealand, places its QF airline code on Vietnam Airlines’ two Australian routes.
Further, Qantas and Vietnam Airlines are joint shareholders in Jetstar Pacific, with the Australian company holding a 30 per cent stake in the Vietnam-based LCC and Vietnam Airlines owning the remaining 70 per cent.
Salter, who was on board Wednesday afternoon’s flight from Melbourne said passengers could connect onwards to 15 domestic destinations in Vietnam on the Jetstar Pacific network.
Flight schedules of the proposed Melbourne and Sydney to Ho Chi Minh flights
Flight Number/Routing |
Days of operation |
Time of departure |
Time of arrival |
|
JQ63 Melbourne-Ho Chi Minh City |
Monday, Wednesday, Saturday |
15:15 |
21:05 |
|
JQ64 Ho Chi Minh City-Melbourne |
Monday, Wednesday, Sunday |
22:35 |
10:10+1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
JQ61 Sydney-Ho Chi Minh City |
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday |
18:45 |
00:30+1 |
|
JQ62 Ho Chi Minh City-Sydney |
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday |
02:00 |
13:40 |
Source: Jetstar website
Nick
says:Can we please have some jetstar services from Perth internationally, like Lombok was always full. Just the plane was based in Brisbane and Brisbane to Perth wasn’t full. Surely their is room to play in Perth with the overcapacity Perth to Bali flight
Lechuga
says:I wonder now if Vietnam Airlines will add a Melbourne – Hanoi flight like with Sydney, just to change up the competition a little.
James Smith
says:The departure and arrival times for JQ61/62 were amended prior to the first flight from Sydney. The departure is 15:20 from Sydney on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday (Fri from 3/6/17) and 19:15 on Sunday with the arrival being 10:15 on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday (Sat from 3/6/17) and 14:10 on Monday. More respectable arrival and departure times at Ho Chi Minh on three of the Sydney flights per week, at least.
AlanH
says:“There is enormous potential for Vietnam to become one of the most popular destinations for Australian travellers thanks to its wonderful year-round climate and great beaches, food and culture,” Jetstar Australia chief executive Dean Salter said in a statement on Wednesday.
Lots of Aussies flew there in the 60s too, but not for those reasons. Many never came back. Once we were fighting the scourge of Communism in Vietnam, now we’re embracing it, all for the tourist dollar. Strange world we live in.