Applied for Taiwan general agency    Vietnamese low-cost airline estimated to launch Taipei-Ho Chi Minh flights in mid-June

▲ Vietnamese low-cost airline VietJet Air. (Photo / from VietJet Air’s Facebook fan page)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

There were reports earlier that Vietnamese low-cost airline VietJet Air would enter the Taiwanese market. According to Central News Agency (CNA), VietJet Air plans to launch flights between Taipei and Ho Chi Minh City in mid-June, a piece of news that has also been confirmed by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA). The CAA stated that VietJet Air has currently applied for a general agency in Taiwan. There are already 13 foreign low-cost airlines in Taiwan, and VietJet Air will be the 14th.

According to the Taiwan-Vietnam air agreement, Vietnam has only opened the destinations of Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Da Nang. Currently, the routes are mainly operated by two Taiwanese airlines, China Airlines and EVA Air, while on the Vietnamese side, only Vietnam Airlines operates the route, and seat capacity on both sides has not been fully utilized. In early March, the Vietnamese civil aviation authority informed the CAA that VietJet Air had been designated to join the Taiwan-Vietnam routes.

VietJet Air once held a bikini show on a flight in August 2012, where several models danced to the music, resulting in a fine of 20 million Vietnamese dong (about 1,000 US dollars) imposed by the Vietnamese civil aviation authority. (Source: Central News Agency)