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Vietnam Airlines has announced today it will strengthen the connection between Victoria and its home base by offering new direct long-haul flights from Melbourne to Hanoi from next month.
Vietnam’s national carrier will fly between the two cities twice a week from 15 June using an Airbus A350-900, which can accommodate up to 350 passengers.
The new service will operate alongside the airline’s existing flights from Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh City and will increase annual capacity between Victoria and Vietnam by more than 65,000 seats.
The additional route will also see Vietnam Airlines offering the most direct services between Australia and Vietnam, with a total frequency of up to 18 flights each week.
Prior to this, there were no direct flights from Melbourne to Hanoi, but carriers like Malaysia Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Vietjet offered a way to reach the capital city with just one stop.
The new direct long-haul route from Melbourne to Hanoi is expected to last just short of 10 hours.
Melbourne Airport chief of aviation Jim Parashos said Vietnam Airlines’ decision to increase its Victorian footprint represented a huge win for local tourists, tertiary education providers and exporters.
“Vietnam Airlines was the first airline to connect Victoria with Vietnam and we’re proud to see this relationship going from strength to strength,” Parashos said.
“This extra capacity means more Vietnamese students can travel to Victoria for study, more families can connect with their loved ones and Victorian exporters have more options to move their products into the Vietnamese market.
“These new flights also mean Victorian tourists will be able to fly into either Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City before travelling along the country’s spectacular coast and then flying home directly. Vietnam has consistently been in our top ten international destinations, and we know there is huge demand from travellers at both ends.”
The news comes around seven weeks after Vietnam-based carrier Vietjet announced it would launch twice-weekly flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Brisbane International Airport for a period of three years.
It marked the first time a Vietnamese carrier would fly direct to Queensland, with the route anticipated to land more than 31,000 visitors in Brisbane during its first year of operation.
Vietjet’s Airbus 330-300 flights have the potential to generate $25.6 million for Brisbane’s visitor economy while supporting 240 local jobs.
The deal is supported by the state government’s $200 million international aviation war chest in partnership with Queensland’s four international airports.
“International aviation is highly competitive, but crucial to fast-tracking the full, post-pandemic recovery of Queensland’s visitor economy,” tourism minister Stirling Hinchliffe said at the time of the announcement.
“With a rapidly growing economy, more Vietnamese are looking to travel and increasing numbers of students are choosing Queensland as their study destination, which Vietjet’s direct flights will support.
“This is another big win for our $200 million aviation war chest which is tipped to add $1.18 million direct international inbound seats to Queensland and almost a billion dollars for the visitor economy.”
Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff added that Vietnam is a rapidly growing market for Queensland.
“To have Vietnam and the Sunshine State connected for the first time by non-stop flights will deliver benefits in two countries,” he said.
“This historic new service from Vietjet will enable family and friends in Vietnam easy connection to Queensland.”
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