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| Vietnam Airlines aircraft (Photo: Vietnam Airlines) |
Accordingly, the first flight departed from Hanoi in the early morning, and arrived in Melbourne in the afternoon, after nine hours. The plane then returned from the second biggest city of Australia at 3pm (Melbourne time) and will land in the capital of Vietnam at 9:35pm (Vietnam time) the same day.
Deputy Ambassador of Vietnam to Australia Tran Le Phuong expressed his delight at the opening of the direct air route, considering it a significant event in 2023 when the two countries are celebrating the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties.
In the context of increasing travel demand between the two sides, the opening of the Hanoi - Melbourne route helps to further facilitate travel between the two cities in particular and the two countries in general, contributing to promoting bilateral exchanges and cooperation.
Nguyen Huu Tung, Chief Representative of Vietnam Airlines in Australia, said that in November, the airline will increase the frequency to three flights per week, and is considering the opening of more routes to Perth of West Australia state and the Northern Territory’s Darwin, and a route from Ho Chi Minh City to Queensland state’s Brisbane.
With the new route opening, Vietnam Airlines is operating the largest number of direct air routes with the highest frequency between Vietnam and Australia – four routes with 18 flights per week connecting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with Sydney and Melbourne.
In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Australia was the 12th biggest aviation market of Vietnam with nearly 900,000 passengers, over 400,000 of whom were served by Vietnam Airlines.
Last year, though some regional and international markets did not fully recover yet, Australia ranked eighth among the sources of international air passengers of Vietnam.
The country is now at the fourth place among the most important markets of Vietnam Airlines, according to the carrier./.