The biggest private airline in Vietnam, Vietjet, achieved aviation history on Friday when it became the first company to fly continuously between Queensland and Vietnam. Vietjet is now operating frequent nonstop flights from Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh City, with plans to expand to more capital cities.
Veitjet’s core principles are as follows.
Michael Hickey, chief operating officer of Vietjet, was at Brisbane Airport to welcome the 100% full flight and took some time to speak with Simple Flying in-depth about the airline’s aspirations for Australia and its Asia-Pacific operations. He began by expressing Vietjet’s pride and excitement at becoming the first airline to run a direct service between Vietnam and Brisbane Airport and that it represented another significant step in the young company’s quick development.
“Australia is really essential to us and our expansion goals, and I believe we are providing something that the Australian people will find quite appealing: affordable tickets on contemporary aircraft. This is very essential to us since we can provide a range of tariffs, from our entry-level economy to our Skyboss Business with lie-flat beds.The connectivity between the cities is made much easier by the direct flights, which is vital for Australia whether you’re thinking about trade or tourism.
So everyone has a really, really fantastic day. When Vietjet arrived in Melbourne on April 9, it began operating flights to Australia. In just over two months, it has added Sydney and Brisbane to its list of destinations. Currently operating eight flights per week out of Ho Chi Minh City, that number will rise to eleven in September with more frequent service to Melbourne and Sydney. Vietjet’s expanding fleet of Airbus A330-300s, which can accommodate 377 passengers in a two-class configuration of 12 SkyBoss Business and 365 economy seats, is what makes this growth possible.
“Over the past 18 months, we have acquired our A330 widebody fleet. Currently, we have six aircraft, and the seventh will be delivered in two weeks. This year, we’re planning to bring more than 31,000 tourists to Queensland by selling more than 400,000 seats into Australia alone.
Tourism organizations and local governments place a high priority on the value of these flights to local economies. Vietjet’s flights to Brisbane are expected to support about 370 jobs in the state and bring in more than AU$30 million ($20 million) yearly. An Attracting Aviation Investment Fund worth AU$200 million ($132 million) that aims to hasten the post-COVID recovery has been funded by the Queensland Government and the state’s international airports.
large-scale investment in Australia
On the other hand, setting up new bases, services, and the infrastructure required to start running new routes to other locations is quite expensive for airlines. Every new route has a risk, and Hickey emphasized the steep price Vietjet paid to enter the Australian market.
“We are pleased to spend more than $100 million in our company’s operations in Australia. In terms of new jobs and cash coming into Australia, we can see that Queensland and the rest of the nation will benefit.Our entry benefits trade, tourism, the Australian people, as well as those in Vietnam and Southeast Asia who may link with Vietjet into Australia.
Being a low-cost airline and offering low rates are essential components of the deal, and they don’t get much cheaper than the special $0 airfares offered as part of Vietjet’s marketing strategy. Hickey told Simple Flying that despite questioning why it wouldn’t be given the very low prices and quality the airline provides, the forward booking profile is quite robust.
He adds that with prices beginning at just AU$200 ($132) and a thrilling destination in Ho Chi Minh City, the “product will be snapped up by the people of Queensland, as it has been in Melbourne and Sydney since we launched in April.” According to him, there is no secret to how rates work, and if you can provide reduced fares, you are entering the market and creating new markets.
“We’re always bringing in new consumers, people who may not have previously flown, and by making it more inexpensive, the service we offer encourages them to do so. You’re restricting the quantity of passengers who can fly if you only offer higher fares.
Vietjet also offers seamless connection within Vietnam and further afield throughout Southeast Asia in this era of exorbitant pricing and constrained capacity. The airline flies to 52 destinations within Vietnam with an average of 450 flights per day along 160 routes.
Through these links, it is simple and affordable to travel throughout all of Vietnam or to other countries via Vietjet without having to change planes, including India, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar. Hickey said the airline has ambitions to travel to Europe and is convinced they will be doing so in a short amount of time. It has also recently announced new links to Jakarta in Indonesia. The remainder of flights are on domestic routes, with about 30% of them being international. In addition to widebodies, Vietjet operates 75 Airbus A320 Family aircraft, a mixture of A320, A321 and A321neo models.
A waiting list of qualified candidates
Vietjet has a drawer full of enthusiastic applicants to select from, but the rest of commercial aviation is still finding it difficult to fill the positions required for a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels. He attributes that to the young airline’s supportive inclusive culture, attractive pay, and overall positive work environment.
Vietjet has a waiting list of pilots, cabin personnel, and engineers who want to join the team but has not experienced any of the staff shortages afflicting other airlines.
“Our staff is multicultural and diversified, coming from all over the world. Hey, I’m working in Vietnam as an Irishman, and I’m just one of the many various nationalities that work with us.
With its aggressive entry into the Australian market and affordable prices, Vietjet is bringing back the foreign competition that has been sorely lacking since travel resumed over a year ago. Along with the assistance of progressive local governments and airports, it is providing what people want and dipping deeply into its own coffers to make it happen.
This just serves to demonstrate how rapidly the market can become more competitive when a motivated and spirited carrier joins the scene, much like Richard Branson’s Virgin Blue did in the past and what Bonza is currently doing in the local market.
