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Bamboo Airways and VietJet eye Melbourne flights
November 29th 2019
VietJet could be second international airline to fly from low-cost Avalon airport. Read More »
Vietnam’s ambitious privately-owned airlines are setting their sights on Australia. So far, in the fierce rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney for airline business, the Victorian capital has edged ahead.
Bamboo and Melbourne Tullamarine International Airport signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on November 26 in the presence of Vietnam’s deputy prime minister, Trinh Dinh Dung, who was on an official visit to Australia.
The MoU calls for Bamboo Airways to launch 787 flights between Hanoi and Melbourne Tullamarine by the end of 2020. Vietnam Airlines has non-stop flights between Melbourne and Ho Chi Minh City, but not Hanoi.
VietJet previously made a preliminary deal with Melbourne’s low-cost airport, Avalon, near Geelong, to inaugurate Ho Chi Minh City-Avalon flights in the second half of 2020, the airport’s CEO, Justin Giddings, said. VietJet would be the second international airline to operate from Avalon after AirAsia X. VietJet has not ordered wide-bodies and it is unclear how it could use its available narrow-bodies for the long flight.
