VietNamNet Bridge – Budget airlines Jetstar Pacific and VietJet have been opening new air routes and enlarging fleets.

Two new air routes were opened on October 27 by Jetstar Pacific: HCM City – Singapore and Hanoi – Vinh City.

Meanwhile, in India, VietJet has joined hands with Air Costa to exploit the network of air routes linking destination points in Vietnam, Thailand and India, expected to take shape this December.

“The Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan and the southern parts of China could be our destination points next year,” Le Hong Ha, CEO of Jetstar Pacific, told a reporter on the opening flight from HCM City to Singapore.

Elaborating on this, he said these are potential air routes which play a very important role in implementing the airline’s plan to cut losses and make a profit. To ensure the success of the plan, Jetstar Pacific plans to add three A320s to its fleet of seven aircraft in November and December.

The eighth aircraft of the air carrier, a next-generation A320 Sharklet made in Toulouse, France, will be put into operation soon.

Jetstar Pacific, which underwent “major surgery” after about 70 percent of its shares were transferred from State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) to Vietnam Airlines due to unprofitable business, has seen rapid improvement.

Jetstar Pacific is expanding its international air routes by joining forces with Jetstar Group which is now providing 630 flights a week between Singapore and 22 destination points in the region. It is also trying to bring international passengers to 11 key destination points in Vietnam.

In the immediate time, Jetstar Pacific opened a daily air route from HCM City to Bangkok starting October 10. This is believed to be a very competitive air route with the presence of Vietnam Airlines, Thai Airways, VietJet, Turkish Airlines, Air Asia and Air Astana.

VietJet, the only private airline in Vietnam, has been moving ahead with its plan to join forces with foreign partners to exploit international air routes.

The cooperation inked recently between VietJet and Air Costa, an Indian low-cost airline, has confirmed its ongoing strategy to gear up in the international market.

Prior to that, VietJet teamed up with Thailand’s Kan Air to set up a joint venture to provide domestic flights in Thailand. Sources said the Thai-VietJet joint venture would take off in December.

Most recently, VietJet has signed a three-party cooperation program with Angel Fairy Travel and Southeast Asia University under which the Thai-Vietjet joint venture will, together with VietJet in Vietnam, exploit the air routes that link destination points in Vietnam, Thailand and India.

Analysts commented that Vietjet is following a development strategy similar to Air Asia in the markets of Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan.

NCDT