Vietjet Air launches new Ho Chi Minh City-Denpasar route

Vietnamese airline Vietjet Air on Wednesday completed its inaugural flight on the new direct route connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Denpasar, with the Indonesian government saying that the new route was expected to boost tourist arrivals from Vietnam to the country’s primary destination of Bali.

Marketing development undersecretary Rizki Handayani of the Tourism Ministry appreciated Vietjet Air’s move to open flights to Bali, adding that the move was a mutual cooperation between the low-cost carrier and the Indonesian government.

“It will help boost tourist arrivals from Vietnam to Bali, and it will also help transport international tourists from Bali to Ho Chi Minh City,” Rizki said as quoted by kontan.co.id.

The VietJet Air aircraft transported 180 passengers on its inaugural flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Denpasar, taking off from Tan Son Nhat International Airport at 8:15 a.m. local time and landing at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport on 1:05 p.m. Central Indonesian Time on May 29.

Rizki said that only 75,632 tourists from Vietnam visited Indonesia last year, and that the government had targeted increasing the figure to 100,000 this year, or 32 percent more than in 2018.

Vietjet Air deputy president Do Xuan Quang said he was proud that the airline had opened a new flight route from Ho Chi Minh City to Bali, which was a major tourist destination. He said that the new route helped customers save their money flying between the two cities.

Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam Ibnu Hadi said Bali was a favorite destination among Vietnamese tourists, and that 20,847 of the 75,632 Vietnamese who traveled to Indonesia last year had visited Bali. (bbn)