Vietnamese low-cost carrier Vietjet Air has begun direct operations between Sri Lanka and Vietnam, with its inaugural flight touching down at Bandaranaike International Airport on Tuesday night.
Flight VJ-1875 arrived at Katunayake from Ho Chi Minh City at 9.33 p.m. carrying 169 passengers, and was met with a water salute. The aircraft was an Airbus A320 configured with 180 economy-class seats. After a short turnaround it departed for Ho Chi Minh City with 171 passengers on board.
The inaugural service was flown by two Sri Lankan nationals — Captain Thivanka Silva and First Officer Randeer Perera.
Three flights a week
Vietjet will operate the route three times weekly, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The carrier announced the August 18 start date in May, and has launched on schedule with the frequency it originally set out.
Two carriers, one city pair, three days apart
The launch gives Sri Lanka a second direct link to Ho Chi Minh City in the space of three days. Vietnam Airlines opened the same route on Sunday night with flight VN-671, also an A320, also greeted with a water salute, and also operating three times a week — on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The two schedules interlock rather than overlap. Between them, the carriers now offer six weekly departures spread across six days, leaving Mondays as the only day without a direct service in either direction.
Vietnam has not previously had a scheduled non-stop connection with Sri Lanka, and travellers between the two countries have had to route through regional hubs. The new services arrive as Sri Lanka works to widen its Asia-Pacific connectivity, with tourist arrivals topping 113,000 in the first 16 days of August.
