Victorians will soon benefit from more international flights from Vietnam, bringing more visitors, growing our exports to the Asia Pacific and creating hundreds of new jobs in our aviation and tourism sectors, thanks to support from the Andrews Labor Government.
Minister for Trade and Investment Tim Pallas in Vietnam today announced VietJet's decision to select Melbourne to commence its first flights to Australia and establish its national head office in Victoria.
The airline will begin its service from Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne Airport by April 2023 with three non-stop flights each week, growing to a daily service by December 2024.
Backed by the Labor Government and Melbourne Airport, VietJet's flights are expected to add more than 136,000 seats to Melbourne each year and deliver a $97 million annual boost to the state's economy once fully operational.
VietJet will be the second Vietnamese airline to establish services to Melbourne since the pandemic after Bamboo Airways commenced flights in April 2022.
The arrival of VietJet will benefit our strong trade relationship with Vietnam - Victoria's ninth largest export market.
The flights will add 3,500 tonnes of air freight to Victoria each year. Air freight exports of Victorian products to Vietnam were valued at $113 million in 2021-22, up 77 per cent on the previous year.
Victoria is also a popular tourism and study destination for visitors from Vietnam. Around 9,500 Vietnamese students are currently enrolled at Victorian institutions - one of our largest international student populations.
Prior to the pandemic, an estimated 53,500 visitors to Victoria were from Vietnam, which was almost half of all Vietnamese travellers to Australia in 2019.
Other airlines the Government has supported to expand international flights to Melbourne include Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, Bamboo Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways and Scoot.
As stated by Minister for Trade and Investment Tim Pallas
"The arrival of another airline from Southeast Asia is a win for the Victorian economy and local jobs - showing the strength of our tourism and export markets."
As stated by Acting Minister for Industry and Innovation Melissa Horne
"We're supporting airlines like VietJet to fly to Melbourne because it means more opportunities for Victorian businesses to export to the world."
As stated by Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus
"We are thrilled to welcome VietJet to Melbourne for the first time. The addition of VietJet will increase total Vietnam seat capacity this year to 153 per cent of what it was pre-Covid."
As stated by VietJet Managing Director Dinh Viet Phuong
"Flying to Victoria will lay the first stones of Vietjet's grand plan to connect Vietnam and Australia and adds to the airlines' strategy to connect Vietnam with all continents over the world."
