Regional Round-Up
VietJet expands overseas
March 1st 2013
Budget operator, VietJet Air, became the first privately-owned Vietnamese airline to operate on international routes last month with the launch of a service from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok. Until now, overseas flying had been confined to government-owned Vietnam Airlines. Read More »
Launched one year ago, VietJet operates with six A320s on nine domestic routes. It plans to increase its fleet to at least 20 aircraft by 2015.
Vice-president for business development, Pritam Singh, said the carrier was looking to expand to Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) cities as well as North Asian destinations in South Korea and Taiwan.
“We plan to have three international routes this year,” said Singh. Six destinations were being considered, including Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Busan and Seoul in South Korea, and Taipei.
According to Vietnam statistics, VietJet had around 16% of domestic seats at the end of 2012, compared with 13% for Jetstar Pacific. Vietnam Airlines’ share of the market was estimated at 68%, down from around 70% in 2011.
