This will create travel options for passengers and expand the air network to popular destinations of the two countries.

Under the agreement, passengers can buy Vietnam Airlines tickets from Ha Noi/Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok and then connect to Thailand’s domestic destinations via Bangkok Airways, including Chiang Mai, Phuket, Koh Samui, Krabi and Chiang Rai. Passengers only need to book seats and make a one-time flight booking with Vietnam Airlines for the entire journey.

Passengers of the two airlines also have more diversified route options between Viet Nam and Thailand, including the Bangkok-Da Nang route operated by Bangkok Airways with a frequency of one flight per day and the Ha Noi/Ho Chi Minh City-Bangkok route operated by Vietnam Airlines with a frequency of six flights per day.

According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), the Southeast Asian aviation market has high potential, reflected by the strong growth and high demand for travel. Six out of eleven Southeast Asian nations have achieved double digit growth in passenger traffic, of which the route between Thailand and Viet Nam reached total increase of 30 per cent last year, almost double compared with five years ago.

This increasing trend is expected to continue in the coming years, CAPA said.