HCM City Party Committee Secretary Nguyễn Văn Nên (left) and Shanghai Party Committee Secretary Chen Jining (middle) jointly extend their congratulations to Vietjet on the airline’s new route. — Photo courtesy of Vietjet

SHANGHAI — During the official visit of the Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee Nguyễn Văn Nên to Shanghai, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the sister city relationship between the two cities, Vietjet Air has opened direct service connecting the two economic and cultural centres of Việt Nam and China.

Politburo Member and Shanghai Party Committee Secretary Chen Jining, and Politburo Member and HCM City Party Committee Secretary Nguyễn Văn Nên jointly extended their congratulations to Vietjet on the airline’s new route.

Vietjet’s Shanghai-HCM City route will commence from December 1, 2023, with seven round-trips per week. With a flight time of just over four hours per leg, these flights will offer residents, tourists and business people a convenient travel option between the two cities, with affordable fares.

Shanghai is China’s most populous city and one of the four centrally administered municipalities of the second-largest economy in the world. Not only is Shanghai one of the largest economic and financial hubs in China, it also holds a major position on the global stage.

In 2022, Shanghai's GDP reached 4.465 trillion Chinese yuan (US$663 billion), with a population of 24.76 million people.

The connectivity between HCM City and Shanghai, the city ranked fifth in terms of billionaire numbers worldwide, will open up more opportunities for the development of high-end products, services, trade connections and investment attraction, Vietjet said in a statement. 

Meanwhile, HCM City, home to nearly nine million people, is Việt Nam’s and Southeast Asia’s prominent economic, cultural and tourist centre. It boasts unique cultural features, a vibrant modern lifestyle, while offering seamless connectivity to a plethora of destinations within Việt Nam and internationally.

Vietjet has operated services between Việt Nam and China since 2014 with the very first routes facilitating travel for Chinese visitors to popular tourist destinations in Việt Nam, including Nha Trang, Đà Nẵng and Phú Quốc.

To celebrate this significant event, Vietjet is launching a large-scale promotional campaign with super discounted fares for easy travel to both cities, according to the airline. 

It added that the new route will not only connect Shanghai to HCM City, but also continue expanding Vietjet's flight network covering Việt Nam, Australia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Kazakhstan and beyond. — VNS