Vietravel Airlines, Vietnam’s first carrier operated by a travel agency, has signed a wet lease agreement with Cambodia Airways to welcome one more aircraft on May 20 and two more in July, all Airbus A319s.
With the agreement signed last Friday, the Vietnamese carrier will increase its fleet to four in May and then six.
Debuting in December 2020, Vietravel Airlines currently operates domestic flights connecting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to major tourism destinations like the central city of Danang, Quy Nhon town of the south-central province of Binh Dinh, and Phu Quoc Island in the southern province Kien Giang.
Its international routes include HCMC-Bangkok, Hanoi-Bangkok, and Daegu (South Korea)-Cam Ranh (Vietnam's Khanh Hoa province). This year, the airliner aims to conduct charter flights to mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.
Prior to the move, Vietravel Airlines’ fleet remained the smallest in Vietnam with three planes. National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is the biggest with 105 aircraft, according to its annual report 2021; followed by low-cost airline VietJet Air with 76; Bamboo Airways with 30; and Pacific Airlines with 18.
In 2022, Vietnamese airlines operated 313,223 flights, of which Vietnam Airlines accounted for the biggest portion of 115,987 flights, or 37% of the total, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. The second-biggest figure belonged to Vietjet Air with 115,731, or 36.95%. Vietravel Airlines made up the lowest number of 4,895, or 1.56%.
Vietravel Airlines conducted over 11,600 flights in the first quarter of this year, carrying 2.5 million passengers, with an occupancy rate of 93.7%, the airline reported.