Julieanne Alroe, CEO and managing director of BAC, said travel demand between Queensland and Vietnam has increased by an average of 8% per year in the last five years. Therefore, Vietjet’s selection of Brisbane as the first destination in Australia to open the air route is a good move as HCMC is one of the five largest markets of Brisbane and there is no direct air service between the two cities.

Vietjet deputy general director Nguyen Thi Thuy Binh said Australia is an attractive destination to which the airline wants to connect to serve Vietnamese customers and international tourists.

On the same day, Vietjet and its partner Investec inked an agreement on financing of five Airbus A321 planes valued at US$609 million.

Vietjet currently owns a fleet

of 55 A320 and A321 aircraft and 82 domestic and foreign air routes.

Currently, Vietnam Airlines operates 17 weekly direct services between the two countries, after first launching direct air service to Australia in 1995. Last year, Vietnam Airlines carried more than 462,000 passengers on its direct routes, up 42% over the same period in 2016 and accounting for 68% of the passengers traveling between Vietnam and Australia.