Vietnam Airlines will work with Jetstar Pacific to increase flight frequency on the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City route, with 34 flights each day from 5.45am to 9.30pm.

Vietnam Airlines will focus on flights leaving on the hour and 15 and 30 minutes passed the hour. “With this frequency, Vietnam Airlines believes passengers can more easily remember flight times and arrange their working schedule more conveniently,” said Mr. Trinh Ngoc Thanh, Deputy CEO of Vietnam Airlines.

The new flight schedule is designed to facilitate businesspeople who normally travel within a single day.

Sixty-five per cent of Vietnam Airlines flights on the route will use Boeing 787, Boeing 777, Airbus A350 and Airbus A330 aircraft, with the remainder using Airbus A321 aircraft. Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 aircraft will be used on flights from 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 7pm.

Vietnam’s national flag carrier earlier announced plans to open a direct route from Hanoi to Sydney, Australia, next April. From December 5 its flights from Ho Chi Minh City to both Sydney and Melbourne will use Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

A representative from Vietnam Airlines in Sydney said that the city is considered a key market, with flights having an annual average carriage frequency of 300,000 passengers. Seat occupancy was 84 per cent at the beginning of this year and the market is clearly divided into high and low seasons.

The first Ho Chi Minh City to Sydney flight was launched in 1996. Only three flights were operated each week, including one combined flight to Sydney and Melbourne. Vietnam Airlines then increased frequency to five flights a week with two separate routes to the two Australian cities.

VN Economic Times