Vietjet launching Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh City flights
The sharply-priced airline will for the first time connect Victoria with Vietnam’s largest city.
By Chris Ashton, January 11 2023
Melburnians with their sights (and stomachs) set on a trip to southern Vietnam have a new travel connection to look forward to, with Vietjet revealing plans to begin Melbourne-Ho Chi Minh City flights from March 31.
Initially jetting off thrice-weekly, the non-stop hop is expected to ramp up to daily flights by December 2024.
Given Melbourne’s large Vietnamese community, its arrival in the city – joining Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airways and Jetstar already flying the direct route – is sure to be welcome news.
The airline's Skyboss Business class comes with an angled flatbed and complimentary meals.
Melbourne Airport Chief Executive Officer Lorie Argus says the Tullamarine hub is “thrilled to welcome Vietjet to Melbourne for the first time, and to be part of their plans for expansion in Australia.”
Flights depart from Melbourne every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, with wheels up after midnight at 12:30am, and touchdown into Ho Chi Minh City at 5:15am.
On the rebound, flights depart Ho Chi Minh City at 9:50am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, arriving into Melbourne at 10:35pm.
Vietjet business class
While Vietjet is considered a low-cost carrier, the Airbus A330s featuring on the new route offer a premium cabin, which the airline sells as ‘Skyboss Business’.
Amenity kits are included to help travellers relax.
But it’s not quite business class as you know it: the 12 leather seats fold out into an older-style angled flatbed.
Our tip for relaxing or catching some shut-eye on the 8+ hour flight: try to set up the seat as a recliner than a sloping lie-flat bed, and wedge a pillow behind your lower back for added comfort.
Perks of Vietjet’s premium cabin include 40kg of checked baggage and 18kg carry-on, along with lounge access, priority check-in and complimentary meals.
With the late-night departure from Melbourne, the overnight flight is well-timed for travellers to get in some sleep before landing into Ho Chi Minh City in the morning, ready to set out and explore.
It’s worth noting Vietjet doesn’t offer any inflight entertainment, so a good book or some pre-downloaded content on your own device is essential.
The Skyboss Business cabin comprises two rows of six.
Interest in Vietnam has soared since the country’s March 2022 reopening, with the major hubs of Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi still receiving the lion’s share of business and leisure travel, though lesser known ports like Quy Nhon and Ninh Binh are becoming increasingly popular.
From Ho Chi Minh City, Vietjet offers connections to a multitude of domestic and international ports, such as Da Nang and Hanoi, and Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Cambodia.
Vietjet is the second Vietnamese airline to make its debut in Melbourne post-pandemic, with Bamboo Airways – the country’s third largest carrier and equipped with a comfortable lie-flat business class on its 787 Dreamliner – flying since April 2022.
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1193
Interesting that they are flying from Tullamarine (MEL). There was lots of speculation that they would fly from Avalon.
The angled seats are not perfect but are a definite step up from what is offered by airlines such as Scoot and Jetstar on fights of similar durations so it comes down to how good the pricing is.
30 Jul 2015
Total posts 136
The business class is identical to T’way and air Asia X!
31 Mar 2014
Total posts 373
They are ex-Air Asia X
13 Sep 2013
Total posts 117
Vietjet are great! They easily offer the best domestic schedule in Vietnam, so perfect for connecting onwards.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 Oct 2016
Total posts 147
Significant thing for me is you can now do a day flight returning to MEL, Viet Nam and Bamboo are day flights out, overnight return. So I wouldn't have too much issue with an angled flat "Year 2000" in that. Low costs tend to price each sector the same, as opposed to a premium who will charge $4k one way or the same return, so going over Bamboo and back VietJet will probably be cheaper than a Bali trip, and I know where I would prefer to go
BA Gold
01 Apr 2012
Total posts 184
Interesting that they feature a very western looking crew member in their promo shots. Do they crew their flights with Western or local crews?
05 Oct 2017
Total posts 534
Yes I noticed that too! Unless that person is a western looking half Vietnamese, half western person, then it's likely just advertising. I'm almost certain all their crew are going to be local. It's possible that some of their pilots are westerners though (not sure), unlike THAI Airways, which only hires Thai nationals as pilots. However, THAI does hire Japanese and Chinese nationals as cabin crew on it's flights to those countries.
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