Local carriers offer more summer flights | Look At Vietnam

Local carriers offer more summer flights

July 7, 2012

JetstarPacific and Air Mekong are adding more flights from HCMC and Hanoi to tourist destinations across Vietnam to meet the surging demand for air travel, particularly on weekends.
The low-cost carrier Jetstar Pacific announced on Thursday that it would provide the market with 48 more flights from Hanoi and HCMC to Danang. The airline will operate these additional services from Thursdays to Sundays of July, which is regarded as the peak month of summer.
With the extra flights effective from July 12, Jetstar Pacific will have five daily flights between HCMC and Danang, one flight more added to its current schedule on this route. For the Hanoi-Danang route, the airline will fly two times a day, or a double frequency.
Hanoi-Danang is one of the two new air routes linking central Vietnam that Jetstar Pacific flies between early last month and August. The other route connects Hanoi and Nha Trang, which is a popular tourist destination in Khanh Hoa Province.
In its summer plan, Air Mekong has increased the number of weekly flights between Hanoi and Phu Quoc to 10, HCMC and Con Dao to 12; double the Hanoi-Dalat frequency to two daily flights, and operate three daily flights between HCMC and Phu Quoc.
Air Mekong told the Daily that the extra flights to the aforesaid destinations would be on weekends when travelers flock to tourist spots.
Currently, this private operates 34 domestic flights a day while Jetstar Pacific offers some 40 daily flights. 
To attract many bookings after summer, Jetstar Pacific will sell fares from VND650,000 (around US$31) from 2 p.m. till 5 p.m. on July 6 for one-way flights from HCMC to Haiphong and Vinh from September 5 to 26.
Jetstar Pacific and Bac A Bank have struck a deal to allow debit card holders of the latter to use their cards for fare payment at www.jetstar.com. The airline has signed similar pacts with 17 other banks, including Vietcombank, Vietinbank, Techcombank, Eximbank, BIDV, Sacombank, and DongA Bank among others.
SGT

Jetstar launches cheap tickets for domestic flights | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

LookAtVietnam - The budget carrier Jetstar Pacific offers cheap tickets at price of VND230,000 (US$11) each for domestic flights from December 3-7.

The cheap tickets are applied for flights from Hanoi, Vinh, Hue, Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City, which depart from January 14 to February 1.

The cheap tickets also applied for flights between Hanoi and Da Nang return way, which depart from January 5 -25; from Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong, which depart from January 5-13 and from Hai Phong to Ho Chi Minh City, depart from January 5 to February 1.

Price ticket applied for flights from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and from Hai Phong to Ho Chi Minh City is VND575,000 ($29).

The ticket prices do not include tax and other additional fee.

Cheap tickets will be available on the Jetstar Pacific’s website and can be paid for online by credit cards, such as Visa, Master Card and by domestic debit cards, such as Connect 24 (Vietcombank), E-Partner (Viettinbank) and VIB.

The air carrier often launches promotional programs for passengers at special events every year.
Source: SGGP

Mekong Aviation First Commercial Flight Oct 2010

Mekong Aviation is completing hectic preparations for its first commercial flight, while Jetstar Pacific is trying to expand its market share.


LookAtVietnam - Mekong Aviation is completing hectic preparations for its first commercial flight, slated for October 2010, while Jetstar Pacific is trying to expand its market share.

According to Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper, Mekong Aviation, a private airline, has decided that it will take the first commercial flight on October 10, 2010. The information is good news for Vietnam’s aviation market.
Believing that it cannot confront airlines that have experience and a certain market share, Mekong Aviation has decided to exploit the ‘niche market’: the airline will fly domestic air routes with Bombardier CRJ 900 jets. Its air routes will be Hanoi-Phu Quoc island, HCM City-Phu Quoc island with four flights per week and also Hanoi-HCM City. At this moment, other airlines do not want to fly Hanoi-Phu Quoc, because Phu Quoc only has a small airport capable of receiving aircraft with less than 100 seats. Only Vietnam Airlines can meet the requirement because it has ATR and Forker aircraft.

As such, right when it joins the market, Mekong Aviation will have an advantage. Another advantage is in aircraft. Bombardier CRJ 900 has 95 seats that flies more smoothly and more quickly than propeller-driven planes.

Mekong Aviation is the first Vietnamese airline to use the Bombardier, chartering them from US SkyWest. SkyWest will also provide the maintenance service.

Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted Vo Huy Cuong, Head of the Aviation Transport Department under the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV), as saying that SkyWest is preparing to buy 30 percent of stakes of Mekong Aviation.

If the purchase is accepted by the Ministry of Transport, this will be the third Vietnamese airline that has sold stakes to foreign partners, after Jetstar Pacific Airlines, and VietJet Air.

It is expected that in August, Mekong Aviation will receive its first aircraft. To date, the air carrier has fulfilled three out of the five steps needed to apply for AOC (air operator’s certificate).

The budget airline Jetstar Pacific is also planning to expand its market share after a long period of coping with the economic downturn. Under an agreement with foreign partner Qantas, by 2014, the airline will put 10 Airbus A320-A321s into operation to improve flight capacity. The first A320 will be delivered in October 2010.
The airline’s fleet now includes five Boeing 747s and one Airbus A321. Jetstar Pacific’s foreign partner cooperates in training pilots and technical teams and has committed to long-term investment in Vietnam.
According to Cuong from CAAV, while Indochina Airlines is facing license revocation, the fact that Mekong Aviation is preparing to take off and Jetstar Pacific is trying to increase its capacity will help the aviation market increase transport capacity.
With a growth rate of nearly 20 percent per annum, travel demand is very high, and the three currently operational airlines cannot meet the demand, especially at peak times.
 In order to take-off in October, Mekong Aviation will have to open its ticket sale system by August at the latest. It is expected that airfares will be equal or lower than the average airfare of Vietnam Airlines on the same air routes.
Source: Nguoi lao dong, Tuoi tre

Jetstar, AirAsia firm low-cost alliance

In a world first for low-cost airlines, Jetstar and AirAsia announced Wednesday they would form a new alliance that would reduce costs and pool expertise, ultimately resulting in cheaper fares for both.

The carriers said in a statement they would focus on cost reduction and potential savings.

The statement said the key to the agreement was a proposed joint specification for the next generation of narrow-bodied aircraft that would best meet the needs of the low fare customer of the future.

Both airline groups will also investigate opportunities for the joint procurement of aircraft.

Alan Joyce, chief executive officer of Australia’s Qantas Airways, Jetstar’s parent, said the historic non-equity alliance would give the two airlines a natural advantage in one of the world’s most competitive aviation markets.

“Jetstar and AirAsia offer unmatched reach in the Asia Pacific region… and this new alliance will enable them to maximize that scale,� he said.

The Asian aviation market is a growth market which has proven resilient over the past 12 months despite the tough operating environment, with significant growth in passenger numbers forecast in the region, thestatement said.

“Year on year, Jetstar is reducing its controllable costs by up to 5 per cent annually. This agreement will enable a further change in our cost position and ensure sustainable low fares,� Jetstar CEO Bruce Buchanan said.

He said both carriers want to work with manufacturers on the next generation aircraft to ensure it best meets their business requirements.

AirAsia Group CEO Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes said the carrier strongly believed the strategic tie-up would help it maintain its position as the lowest-cost airline in the world despite rising costs associated with the fledgling global economic recovery.

These arrangements are, where required, subject to regulatory approval.

The two largest airlines in the Asia Pacific in revenue terms jointly earned revenues of nearly AUD$3 billion (US2.74 billion) in 2009 financial year, according to the statement.

Jetstar holds a 27 percent stake in Jetstar Pacific while the sovereign fund State Capital Investment Corporation owns 69.93 percent.

Reported by Minh Quang

Airlines going discount route

The economic crisis has made the business performances of airlines lackluster, though it is now the peak season of the aviation industry. Airlines are trying to attract passengers by offering gifts and airfare discounts.

At Noi Bai airport

The economic recession has prompted the national flag air carrier Vietnam Airlines to travel to Paris to advertise itself and attract tourists.

Vietnam Airlines has set up a representative office on one of the most famous and up-scale boulevards in Europe – the Champs-Elysees. It has also been advertising itself and beautiful destinations in Vietnam through billboards on the streets and in subway stations in the French capital.

Moreover, it has announced preferential airfares for travel firms and special airfare programmes for those eligible for the state’s preferential treatment policy.

The budget airline Jetstar Pacific has been following a flexible policy under which it cuts or offers more flights after considering numbers of passengers. On May 26, Jetstar Pacific announced the termination of Hanoi-Can Tho flights from June 1, while it will provide more flights on north-south air routes, increasing the number of Hanoi-Da Nang/HCM City flights.

The budget airfare for the Hanoi-HCM City flight now is 830,000. Jetstar Pacific has also announced a programme on giving gifts to children of under 15 years who take domestic flights on the occasion of International Children’s Day.

Jetstar Pacific’s Deputy General Director Nguyen Thi Thuy Binh said that the airline has contacted passengers who booked tickets for Hanoi-Can Tho flights after June 1, and has arranged seats for them on HCM City-Hanoi flights and given every passenger a rebate of 100,000 dong.

Foreign airlines have also been trying to do more things for passengers. Hong Kong Airlines offers $0 fares (passengers only have to pay security fee, fuel and airport tax) to passengers with Vietnamese nationality who have the same birthday as President Ho Chi Minh (May 19) and fly from Hanoi to Hong Kong.

VietNamNet/TP

Jetstar Pacific cancels Hanoi-Can Tho flights

The low-cost airline Jetstar Pacific on May 26 announced it would stop offering Hanoi-Can Tho flights as of June 1.

The airline said it will close this air route to focus on more lucrative routes, for example Hanoi-Da Nang, Hanoi-HCM City, HCM City-Da Nang. The firm will add one more flight per week on these routes.

Other routes, HCM City to Hue, Vinh and Hai Phong and Hanoi-Nha Trang, will still have one flight per day.

Meanwhile, Vietnam Airlines offers two Hanoi-Can Tho flights a day.

VietNamNet/TP

1,000 air tickets at VND 100,000

Users of the website jetstar.com who use JetMail accounts are being offered the chance to book domestic flights at very cheap prices, from as low as VND 100,000.
The programme started on May 8 and will last until the number of tickets are sold out. There are 1,000 tickets at VND 100,000 each and others from VND 160,000, VND 370,000 and VND 450,000.
These price levels, however, are said to be available only for certain days and routes and only if paid for by credit cards. Tax and fees are excluded.
An additional VND 50,000 will also be charged when passengers wish to carry 20kg luggage.
Source: Vnexpress

Jetstar Pacific to cut flights to Vietnam's Nha Trang

Vietnam's second-largest airline Jetstar Pacific, 18-percent owned by Australia's Qantas (QAN.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) Airways Ltd, said it will drop flights to the central beach city of Nha Trang from next month due to rising fuel costs.
Instead, the unlisted airline would open three flights in late October and early November to link Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's commercial centre, with Bangkok, Cambodia's Siem Reap and Singapore, it said in a statement.
Oil CLc1 fell 1.1 percent to settle at $113.77 a barrel on Friday, but it still well above the $70 level used by Jetstar Pacific, Vietnam's only low-cost airline, to build its operation plans last year.
Flights to Nha Trang will cease from Sept 5. The route opened in June.
Fuel accounts for 60 percent of Jetstar Pacific's flight costs, Deputy CEO Nguyen Thi Thuy Binh said.
"Building a new business plan will focus on prioritising to tap the routes on which travel demand is high, so that would help the airline ease the financial impact from fuel prices," Binh said in the statement.
Nha Trang is a popular beach resort in central Vietnam, 450 km (280 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City.
National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines said it has started collecting a fuel surchage of up to 180,000 dong ($11) on one-way ticket for domestic flights as from Friday as a measure to cope with the rising fuel cost.
The airline said in July it made a loss of $5 million during the first half of this year after high oil prices forced it to spend more than its revenue. Continued...

Jetstar Pacific Airlines offers 10,000 cheap tickets

From 11am May 28, Jetstar Pacific Airlines officially offered 10,000 air tickets at only VND 15,000 a ticket (excluding tax and other additional fees) on its domestic flights at its website www.jetstar.com.

This is the first big promotion programme since Jetstar Pacific officially began trading under the Jetstar brand name.

The sale of these cheap tickets will run on only May 28 and will finish at 9pm. The programme applies to those passengers with under 7 kilogrammes of hand-luggage traveling on Jetstar flights from September 8 to October 25, 2008.

Buyers are requested to own one of the four following cards: Visa, Master Card, JCB and American Express issued by foreign or domestic banks.