Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung, who is on a working visit to Australia, witnessed the signing.

This is the first time a Vietnamese airline looks to open direct flights between the Vietnamese capital and Melbourne, which is expected to further boost the cooperation and trade between the two countries.

A direct service between Vietnam’s southern hub Ho Chi Minh City and Melbourne served around 259,000 travellers last year, and 208,000 in the first nine months of 2019, a 7.7 percent increase on a yearly basis. This shows the potential of direct air services between Vietnam and Australia.

At the signing ceremony, Standing Vice President of Bamboo Airways said the airline wants to expand to Australia due to the market’s potential. Vietnam and Australia entered a strategic partnership in March last year, and the Vietnamese community in Australia has now numbered nearly half a million, while there are only a few direct routes between the two countries.

Bamboo Airways hopes to launch the Hanoi-Melbourne service in the fourth quarter of this year, using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner airplanes. The route is said to be the prerequisite for the airline to open more direct flights to other destinations in Australia in the future.

The same day, Deputy PM Dung also witnessed the signing of another MOU between Bamboo Airways and the RMIT University on expanding training and research, and encouraging greater participation of women in aviation./.VNA