By Lang Thang.
Air Mekong, a Vietnamese private airline, announces that the firm is to operate 50 more flights between major tourist attractions in Vietnam in the period from 23Dec2011 to 3Jan2012 to meet the surge in demand for air travel in the country during the time. Most of the flights are for Hanoi - Phu Quoc Island, Hanoi - Da Lat, Ho Chi Minh City - Phu Quoc Island and Ho Chi Minh City - Con Dao Island. According to the airline, there will be 2 flights per day to Con Dao Island instead of 5 flights per week at present; and 1 to 2 flights per day to Phu Quoc Island instead of 12 flights per week now.
Tieu Quy.
AirAsia is to begin direct flights between Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Da Nang (Vietnam) from 16Dec2011. The airline plans 4 flights per week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and all flights are with Airbus 320. Beside Da Nang, AirAsia also flies to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) of Vietnam.
Da Nang Non Nuoc Beach
By Tieu Quy.
Vietnam Airlines is to begin direct flights between Hanoi Noi Bai Airport/Saigon Tan Son Nhat Airport and London Gatwick Airport on 9Dec2011. The air carrier will use Boeing 777s with 25 Business-Class seats, 54 First-Class seats and 228 Economy-Class seats for these flights. Vietnam Airlines is the first airline to have direct flights between Vietnam and the UK. The move is to meet the increasing demand for air travel between the two countries by the business travellers, by students and by the leisure travellers.
By Lang Thang.
On 14Sept2011, Vietnam Transport Ministry has approved the submission by Vietnam Airlines to increase the ceiling airfare for flights within the country by 1.5 times compared to the current ceiling prices. This approval allows the air carriers in Vietnam to cover increasing input costs and to diversify the air tickets classes. With the new ceiling prices, the average domestic airfare in Vietnam would increase by 15%.
By Lang Thang.
On 29Aug2011, Azur Helicopter (a France-based helicopter service company) has introduced Eurocopter AS350 B2 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to target Vietnamese individual and corporate travellers.
Azur Helicopter will co-operate with VASCO (a Vietnam-based air service company) in offering private helicopter service in Vietnam starting from the end of Oct-2011. All flights will be with Eurocopter AS350 B2 departing from Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat Airport to major destinations in southern Vietnam including Phan Thiet - Mui Ne, Vung Tau...
Air Mekong is to begin flights between Buon Ma Thuot and Vinh from 1-Oct-2011. According to the spokesman of Air Mekong, this is an extended route for the flights between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Buon Ma Thuot. There will be 3 directly flights per week on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Currently, other local carriers including Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific offer flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Vinh, but not directly between Buon Ma Thuot and Vinh.
By Lang Thang.
The low-cost airline Jetstar is to begin flights between Hanoi and Singapore with 4 flights per week, announced the airline on 14-July-2011. The air carrier also announced that the air firm is to increase flights between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Singapore to 3 flights per day starting from 18-August-2011.
By Lang Thang.
Because the ash cloud from Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano passes over the south of Australia, the times of departure for flights from Australia to Vietnam by Vietnam Airlines on 22June2011 are to be changed. Time of departure for VN 780 from Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is to be changed from 10:35 A.M to 12:35 P.M (local time). The time of departure for VN 782 from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City is changed from 10:15 A.M. to 14:15 (local time). Earlier, on 21June2011 Vietnam Airlines flights' times from Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne and Sydney were also changed by ash from the volcano.
By Lang Thang.
According to Air France, the airline is to increase direct flights between Tan Son Nhat Airport (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) and Charles de Gaulle Airport (Paris, France) from the end of October-2011. Currently, Air France has flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Paris on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and is planning two more flights on Monday and Saturday. All these flights are with Boeing B777-200 và B777-300. Due to low volume, direct flights between Vietnam and France were suspended earlier and was restored only a year ago.
Air France also discloses that the airline still maintains the 6 code-share flights per week with Vietnam Airlines between Hanoi and Paris. These code-share flights are operated by Vietnam Airlines.
By Lang Thang.
According to Vietnam Airlines, the national flag carrier of Vietnam will start direct flights between Vietnam and the UK from 8-December-2011. All these flights will arrive at and depart from London Gatwick Airport. No information about the airport in Vietnam for these flights and frequency of the flights was disclosed just yet. Vietnam Airlines is planning 7 flights per week between the two countries in 2014. By far, Vietnam Airlines is the first airline that offers direct flights between the UK and Vietnam. London is the fourth city in Europe that Vietnam Airlines has direct flights to and from; the other three are Paris, Frankfurt and Moscow.
By Lang Thang.
Hue Phu Bai Airport resumes operations on 14-June-2011 as planned. The airport was closed one month from 13-May-2011 to 13-June-2011 for repair. Repair was completed as planned. Air travellers to Hue had to go to and from Da Nang Airport earlier. Vietnam Airlines resumes its 4 daily flights between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Hue and 3 daily flights between Hanoi and Hue. jetstar Pacific resumes its 2 daily flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Hue.
By Lang Thang.
From 16-June-2011, Vietnam Airlines starts direct flights between Hanoi (Vietnam) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). On 3-June-2011, the airline company hosted a ceremony in co-operation with Vietnam-based travel agencies for promoting the direct flights between the two cities. Currently, air travellers between Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur have to transit via Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). All flights will be with Airbus A321 which could carry 168 passengers per flight.
The opening of direct flights between Hanoi and Malaysia is in the strategy of Vietnam's national flag carrier to expand the network into different cities in South East Asia. The direct flight also helps Vietnam Airlines to facilitate the air travellers in connecting the flights to Europe and the North East of Asia. The direct flight makes it convenient for the travellers from Hanoi to Kuala Lumpur and from Malaysia to northern Vietnam. Currently, more travellers from Malaysia would choose to travel to southern Vietnam instead of northern part of the country because of flight availability.
