Vietjet Air to open new direct routes to Cambodia, Indonesia, China in Dec

Vietnam’s budget carrier Vietjet plans to open new routes connecting to Cambodia, Indonesia and China in December, while troubled Bamboo Airways has started halting international routes to Asian and European destinations.

Vietjet will open a new route from Ho Chi Minh City to China's Shanghai from December 1 with seven flights a week.

Shanghai, literally known as 'the port on the sea', is one of the world's largest seaports and China's major industrial and commercial center. Spring is Shanghai's busiest period for tourism, and lasts from March through May.

The Hanoi-Jakarta route will be launched on December 10 with four flights per week, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

The carrier will also launch a new route connecting Hanoi with Cambodia’s Siem Reap from December 15 with seven flights a week.

Foreign arrivals in Vietnam reached nearly 10 million in the first 10 months of the year, and the country is expected to welcome 13 million by the end of this year.

Vietnam welcomed 1.11 million international tourists in October, making the fourth consecutive month that it has received more than 1 million foreign visitors, according to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism.

So far, China was the second biggest market of Vietnam’s tourism, with 1.3 million arrivals, after South Korea (2.9 million).

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on September 28 announced its plan to launch a direct route between the central coastal city of Da Nang and Thailand’s Bangkok in November.

Vietravel Airlines, a subsidiary of tour operator Viettravel, in September this year launched its first direct flight from the beach town of Nha Trang in the central province of Khanh Hoa to Muan of South Korea.

While Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet and Vietravel Airlines keep opening new direct routes to Asia-Pacific destinations to cash in on the busy international tourism season, privately-run carrier Bamboo Airways started scaling down its operation.

Bamboo Airways started halting a series of international routes to South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Australia and Germany from October 29 amid major restructuring.

The carrier has been going through major leadership changes ever since its then chairman Trinh Van Quyet was arrested in March last year for stock manipulation. Aviation veteran Luong Hoai Nam was appointed as its new CEO last week, the third in five months and the fourth in more than a year.