By Shakir Husain
NEW DELHI, Feb 13 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Vietnam’s low-cost carrier VietJet Aviation will launch new direct flights to India in May after it received an encouraging response to its New Delhi services that began two months ago.
The new routes were announced at an event attended by Vietnamese Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh and Indian Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri here on Wednesday evening.
VietJet will start flying between Da Nang in central Vietnam and New Delhi five times a week from mid-May.
It is also scheduled to launch direct flights connecting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with Mumbai in May. The airline at present operates flights linking Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with India’s capital.
India is a priority market and the new routes would create more trade and tourism opportunities between the two countries, VietJet executives said.
The New Delhi route enjoyed a load factor of 83 per cent since the launch of services in December and 80 per cent of the passengers were Indian citizens, they said.
Vietnam received 169,000 visitors from India last year.
Officials expect tourist numbers to rise significantly with the expansion of connectivity.
