HANOI, 7 March 2018: Vietjet has confirmed it will establish direct flights between Vietnam and India later this year.
No firm details on the starting date or timetable were given but it is likely the service will start soon, possibly in July, linking Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam with New Delhi in India.
Vietjet’s vice chairman, Nguyen Thanh Hung, confirmed the decision to open flights to India during the India-Vietnam Business Forum hosted in New Delhi, last week.
The event marked the 45th anniversary of the Vietnam-India diplomatic relationship and the 10th anniversary of a strategic partnership between the two countries.
There have been frequent calls by Vietnam’s tourism officials to establish direct air links to tap India’s vast outbound travel market.
The low-cost airline plans to link Ho Chi Minh City with New Delhi with four weekly flights.
During his presentation the airline’s vice chairman said the long-term strategy was to open new routes, add more aircraft, invest in modern technology, and offer more add-on products and services to attract more customers.
Currently, the airline has a fleet of 55 aircraft, including A320s and A321s, and operates 385 flights daily.
According to its 2017 financial report, the airline carried more than 55 million passengers on 82 routes in Vietnam and international destinations.
Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), statistics showed around 85,000 Indians visited Vietnam last year, up 30%.
Vietnam has extended an e-visa facility for Indian nationals from January 2018. This allows them to stay in the country for 30 days based on approval of a single entry electronic visa.
It does away with the need to travel to the nearest Vietnamese embassy to apply for a visa, or apply for a visa-on-arrival following a pre approved process.
A direct flight from New Delhi to Ho Chi Minh City will end the need to connect with flights in Bangkok, or Singapore, cutting hours off the end-to-end travel times.
