HÀ NỘI — Australian budget carrier Jetstar Airways on Wednesday announced the launch of direct flights from Melbourne and Sydney to HCM City.

The world’s leading Boeing 787 Dreamliner will be used for all flights, operating four times per week from Sydney and three times per week from Melbourne.

Flights from Melbourne to HCM City will commence on May 10 and flights from Sydney will commence on May 11, with the starting fare at AU$159 per roundtrip.

"These flights will help increase international, commercial and business travellers to Australia. Over the past 12 months, the number of visitors from Việt Nam to Australia has increased by 21 per cent against the same period in 2015, ranking second in Asia in terms of foreign tourism growth. We expect this number to increase after the launch of low-cost airlines," Paul Rombeek, Jetstar Group’s head of sales, said.

Việt Nam and Australia have a close relationship thanks to more than 31,000 Vietnamese students studying in Australia currently and over 220,000 overseas Vietnamese living here.

In addition, Australian tourists were named the biggest spenders in Việt Nam in an official tourism report released in November 2015. Each Australian tourist spent $1,677 per trip, compared with average expenditure of $1,114, according to the report produced by the Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism. In 2016, Việt Nam welcomed a total of 250,000 Australian visitors to the country.

According to Australian Deputy Minister of Trade, Tourism and Investment Keith Pitt, direct flights to Australia at lower fares will help visitors get more opportunities to experience the majestic nature, typical culture and diverse ecological system of this “wonderful southern land.” — VNS