Ho Chi Minh City, 09th October 2009 – AirAsia, Asia’s biggest low-cost carrier and recently awarded the coveted “World’s Best Low Cost Airline” by Skytrax, continues to strengthen its international connectivity by commencing services to its new international destination- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from Jakarta, operated by its associate PT Indonesia AirAsia. AirAsia is the sole airline in the industry today to fly direct from Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam to the metropolitan city of Jakarta, Indonesia. This new route was announced opened for sales on 20th August 2009 and began flying to the city on the 18th of September 2009.
This marks the first route to Vietnam operated by Indonesia AirAsia, after AirAsia Berhad and Thailand AirAsia as both Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok have already established routes to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Overall, AirAsia is targeting a significant average load factor of 75-85%.
In conjunction with the official inaugural ceremony of the new route, AirAsia will be offering an all-in-fare from as low as VND 696,000 ( IDR 199,000.00) one way for the new route. This offer is valid for booking period from 7th to 15th October 2009, for the travel period between 18th October 2009 to 31st July 2010. The airline will fly four times weekly from Ho Chi Minh City to Jakarta and vice versa.
PT Indonesia AirAsia Chief Executive Officer, Dharmadi, commented “The official inaugural ceremony today marks the establishment of AirAsia’s new Ho Chi Minh City- Jakarta route. AirAsia is once again strengthening its position as a Truly ASEAN airline as we currently have the most extensive network in the ASEAN region. Now, by connecting the two bustling cities directly, AirAsia hopes to bring in new travel demand and foster new economic tie ups. Furthermore, AirAsia’s low fares and innovative services will definitely stimulate more travel both inbound and outbound from these two destinations.”
“AirAsia aims to accommodate guests flying in from Vietnam who would want to explore many other exciting places in Indonesia such as Bandung, Jogjakarta and Bali and vice versa. With our Indonesian hubs in Jakarta, Bandung, Bali, and Surabaya, guests are spoilt for travel choices to many exciting destinations such as Perth, Singapore, Bangkok and many other exciting ASEAN gateways,” adds Dharmadi.
With this campaign Go Holiday, AirAsia’s one stop travel portal will offer “Stay 2 Pay 1 Promotion” for hotels in both cities which can be booked online at goholiday.airasia.com.
Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports & Tourism Vietnam, Lã Quốc Khánh, states, “The Government of Vietnam highly welcomes AirAsia’s non-stop passenger service connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta. We believe that the outcome of establishing faster connectivity between the two countries will lead into more strategic cooperations in the economic, social, cultural and tourism sectors.”
