VietJet Air adds routes that will link Ho Chi Minh City with Phuket and Chiang Mai
VietJet
Air is spreading its wings to Thailand with two new routes linking Ho Chi Minh City with Phuket and Chiang Mai.
The Vietnamese low-cost carrier will begin to offer regular flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Chiang Mai and Phuket on Dec 12 and Dec 15, respectively.
The carrier will operate four flights a week on the two new routes with Airbus A320 single-aisle jets, according to airline executives.
The launch is timed with the start of the high season, which is expected to attract an influx of Vietnamese tourists to Thailand.
The two new air links will boost VietJet’s number of routes in Thailand to five.
The launch comes on the heels of a planned network expansion of its Thai offshoot, Thai VietJet Air (TVJA), whose growth has been impeded by regulatory factors.
Next week, TVJA is expected to announce its growth plan upon having its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) recertified by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT).
TJVA is understood to be next in line among 10 remaining Thai-registered airlines that have yet to see their AOCs reissued by the CAAT, which has banned them from flying abroad unless they get their permits recertified.
Eleven Thai-registered airlines, mostly major
passenger carriers with scheduled services, including Thai Airways International and Thai AirAsia, were able to obtain the recertified AOCs by the Aug 31 deadline.
The CAAT had banned Thai carriers from operating internationally to appease the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which placed the red flag on Thailand for “significant safety concerns” in June 2015.
The UN aviation watchdog confirmed the removal of the red flag to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Oct 9.
TVJA had earlier indicated its plan to serve Krabi and Hat Yai. The carrier also aims to cover destinations in China, Taiwan and Vietnam.
TVJA is on course to launch its fourth domestic route — Bangkok-Chiang Rai — with twice daily flights on Sunday.
The airline currently operates three domestic routes — Bangkok-Phuket, Bangkok-Chiang Mai and PhuketChiang Rai.
VietJet’s new Ho Chi Minh City-Chiang Mai flight runs every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, while the Ho Chi Minh City-Phuket route operates on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
The Vietnamese LCC group boasts a fleet of 45 aircraft, including A320s and A321s, operating 350 flights per day.
TVJA operates 73 routes in Vietnam and across the region.