Summary
- Vietjet is offering $0* tickets for flights from five Australian cities to Ho Chi Minh City, coinciding with the announcement of a new route to Adelaide via Perth.
- The nonstop Perth route will operate five times weekly and give Adelaide customers a one-stop service to Ho Chi Minh City.
- Vietjet currently operates nonstop services to Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, with flights to Adelaide and Perth starting in November.
For the next ten days, Australians can pay $0* for tickets to fly with Vietjet from five Australian cities to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. This special offer coincides with announcing a new route to Adelaide via Perth, which is an extra leg to the Perth services already announced.
This is an interesting move from Vietjet, which up until now has operated only nonstop services to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. In early August, Vietjet announced the new route between Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and Perth would commence on November 21 with two flights weekly, although Simple Flying predicted that would probably increase before the route starts.
Onward to Adelaide
Yesterday, Viejet announced that the nonstop Peth route would operate five times weekly and add a second leg by continuing to Adelaide, the fifth Australian destination to host its red Airbus A330-300s. They will depart Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN) at 06:35 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and arrive at Perth Airport at 14:20, continuing to Adelaide Airport at 15:20.
Photo: Vietjet
The return service departs Adelaide Airport (ADL) at 07:25 and lands in Perth at 08:55 before the nonstop flight to HCMC that arrives at 15:40 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The good news for Adelaide customers is that they will have a one-stop service to Ho Chi Minh City, although it will be, for now, the only Vietjet Australian route that is not flown nonstop.
Currently, Vietjet operates three nonstop weekly services from Ho Chi Minh City to Sydney and Melbourne and two to Brisbane (BNE). From December onwards the Sydney and Melbourne services will operate daily, and the Brisbane flight, which is the only nonstop service connecting Brisbane to Vietnam, will increase to three times per week.
With a population of around 1.9 million, Adelaide will be Vietjet’s smallest Australian market, although not all that far behind Perth at 2.1 million. While the airline does not mention why this is a continuing leg rather than a nonstop flight, it may well be that Vietjet is either testing the market or starting to develop it with the aim of a nonstop flight when demand makes that profitable.
Photo: Sydney Airport
With more than 40 flights a week between Vietnam and Australia, Vietjet has already committed significant capacity and resources in the short time it has been in this market. Another consideration is aircraft and operating crew availability, and with just seven Airbus A330s operating five nonstop Australian destinations may be stretching the widebody capacity a little thin at this stage.
The $0* ticket offer
Vietjet watchers have seen this $0 ticket offer before and once again the ultra-low-cost carrier has rolled them out for the route launch. From October 2 until October 10, tickets on all routes connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney and all Vietjet’s international routes can be booked for $0, excluding taxes and fees. The offer is for flights until March 29, 2024, that are booked on the airline’s website or the Vietjet Air mobile app.
Beyond Ho Chi Minh City, Vietjet has seamless connections to some of Asia’s prime hotspots, including Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Osaka, Busan, Taipei and Kaohsiung. Passengers flying with Vietjet also receive complimentary Sky Care insurance and can accumulate points and redeem gifts on the SkyJoy loyalty program.