New flights connecting Vietnam to South Australia will begin next month, offering greater access to key tourism and trade markets in Asia.
The South Australian Tourism Commission and Adelaide Airport Limited today confirmed that Vietjet will operate five services a week from November 21.
The flights will link Ho Chi Minh City - Perth - Adelaide. It is the first time any Vietnamese airline has included Adelaide as a regular destination.
The Vietjet network offers connection options to more than 120 domestic and international destinations, allowing increased accessibility into valuable tourism markets.
The total value of tourism from the Asian region is currently $602 million.
Currently Vietnam is the State's 11th largest export destination, with exports to Vietnam having increased by over 30 per cent in the last 12 months, growing to almost half a billion dollars a year.
This growth has been underpinned by strong growth in key agricultural sectors such as wheat, barley, and malt.
International Student numbers have also increased, 37 per cent over the last 12 months, making Vietnam our fourth largest cohort of international enrolments in our State.
The announcement comes after the recent positive news for Adelaide Airport as international airlines increase services to South Australia.
Eight international airlines currently operate 38 non-stop flights into Adelaide each week. Batik Air, Indonesia has announced new four weekly services from Denpasar to Adelaide from November, and Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia Airlines have both announced they will seasonally increase weekly international flights over December and January.
The new flights are:
Sunday - Thursday
VJ89 depart Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) 0635 - arrive Perth (PER) 1420
VJ89 depart Perth 1520 - arrive Adelaide (ADL) 2110
Monday - Friday
VJ80 depart Adelaide 0725 - arrive Perth 0855
VJ80 depart Perth 0955 - arrive Ho Chi Minh City 1540.
Minister for Tourism, Zoe Bettison said it is a great result to have new services from Vietnam, providing greater access into Asia.
"The South Australian Tourism Commission and Adelaide Airport have been working hard behind the scenes to secure more airlines, and to reinstate flights that link South Australia with its key tourism markets," Minister Bettison said.
"We know that Vietnam has a strong connection with South Australia, both through tourism and trade, as well as through family and friends, so I am very pleased that we will be able to offer more flights and more opportunities."
Managing Director Adelaide Airport, Brenton Cox said the airport had flights to Vietnam on its radar for some time and it is delightful that Vietjet has recognised the opportunity to add Adelaide to its network.
"Vietnam has long been an underserved market of ours and we are confident there are strong economic and tourism links between Vietnam and South Australia that will translate into significant interest in these flights," Mr Cox said.
"There is also a strong and vibrant Vietnamese community in South Australia so we would envisage interest from customers wanting to visit family and friends both here and in Vietnam.
"Both the Ho Chi Minh City to Adelaide and the Adelaide to Ho Chi Minh City flights will have a short one-hour stopover in Perth each way and will operate during the day, so there's no dreaded overnight flight.
"If the service attracts strong passenger numbers, we'll be keen to have further discussions with Vietjet with a view to turning this into a non-stop service between the two cities."
VietJet Vice President of Commercial, Mr Jay L Lingeswara said Vietjet's pre-existing routes connecting Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane respectively with Ho Chi Minh City have created more favourable conditions than ever for the people and tourists of the two countries.
"With these new routes to Perth and Adelaide, Vietjet has five routes connecting five largest cities in Australia with Vietnam which offer passengers unparalleled access to our exceptional flying experiences complemented by a wide array of convenient products and services, meticulously tailored to fulfill the diverse demands of travel, education, and trade exchange of passengers at reasonable costs," Mr L Lingeswara said.
