Foreign airlines add flights to Hochiminh City

Malaysia Airlines and All Nippon Airways (ANA) have confirmed the augmentation of their flights to HCMC from late March to cash in on a recovery of global air traffic demand this year.
Zuraidi Saisi, area manager of Malaysia Airlines in Vietnam, said this carrier in Malaysia would increase frequency on the Kuala Lumpur-HCMC route to 20 from the current 14 flights a week.
“We will fly thrice a day except Sunday between Kuala Lumpur and HCMC from March 29,” Saisi told the Daily on the phone on Monday, crediting the increase to expectations of a rebound in business and leisure air travel between the two cities.
Malaysia Airlines also has daily services between Kuala Lumpur and Hanoi, but Saisi said the carrier would add flights to HCMC only in the summer schedule as it saw more demand for air travel here than in the capital city of Vietnam.
Having recognized the untapped potential of this southern economic hub of Vietnam, ANA has decided to fly daily between Tokyo and HCMC in the summer schedule, or two more flights than the Japanese airline’s current frequency.
ANA is planning to operate the two additional flights on Mondays and Thursdays to offer passengers more options to travel with the carrier between Narita and Tan Son Nhat airports any day of the week.
ANA now uses Boeing B767-300 aircraft configured with more than 210 seats for the Tokyo-HCMC run, and sells the return fare valid within two weeks for this route from US$509 including tax.
The airline announced the number of flights to HCMC as part of its international network expansion in anticipation of increased air travel. ANA said in a statement that 2010 would be a year of expansion for the carrier.
“Factors such as anticipated capacity increase at Tokyo’s Haneda and Narita airports, the scheduled delivery of Boeing 787s, as well as Open Skies between Japan and the United States agreed in December 2009 will bring important business opportunities for ANA to expand,” the statement says.
ANA disclosed the increased frequency of flights to HCMC and other markets in the world after Japan Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection. Japan Airlines had to suspend its direct flight between Hanoi and Osaka on January 12 because of its restructuring plan to cope with financial woes.
Vietnam Airlines began to operate direct service between Hanoi and the Japanese city of Osaka on January 13 to replace the struggling Japan Airlines on the route and in a move to expand its network in the northeast Asian market.
Vietnam Airlines operates flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays on the new route, on which it previously had a code-share deal with the Japanese partner.
Hanoi-Osaka is the fourth direct route serviced by Vietnam Airlines from Hanoi to Japan and the seventh route by this national flag air carrier between Vietnam and Japan.
Vietnam Airlines operates more than 30 flights from Hanoi and HCMC to Japan each week, including 11 a week to Tokyo, 12 to Osaka, four to Nagoya and four to Fukuoka.