Vietnam-based low-cost airline Vietjet Aviation JS Company announced it will open an additional 20 new international routes in 2019 as part of its three-year plan to expand its international network.
The carrier also targets to transport nearly 28 million passengers and increase its air transport revenue to VND42.25 trillion (US$1.82 billion) and air transport profit to VND3.8 trillion this year.
The plan was announced at Vietjet’s 2019 annual general shareholders’ meeting held on April 19.
Plans for the year will focus on international route expansion to promote foreign currency revenue from ticketing and take advantage of the lower international fuel price, as well as on increasing ancillary revenue, which has a higher profit margin coming from the high-income passenger segment, Vietjet said.
It also disclosed its three-year development strategy. Over the next three years, aside from expanding its international routes, it will consider investment opportunities in infrastructure projects and terminals, technical services, ground services, and training.
In 2018, the new-age carrier operated 16 new aircraft, and was the country’s first carrier to operate the new-generation aircraft A321neo, according to Vietjet’s report.
Last year, Vietjet transported over 23 million passengers across all flight routes, operated 118,923 flights with 261,000 safe operating hours and load factor at 88.06%. The airline’s on-time performance (OTP) was at 84.2%.
It opened one new domestic route and 22 international routes last year. Its air transport revenue reached VND33,779 billion, a year-on-year increase of 49.8%, and air transport profit before tax increased by 48.9% year-on-year.
In 2018, Vietjet trained 68 pilots. It launched the Aviation Academy with its flight simulator complex (Full Flight Simulator) in partnership with Airbus in early last November. Until the end of last year, the flight simulator provided more than 910 training hours. The academy conducted 924 courses for 21,611 trainees, including 157 pilot training courses, 127 cabin crew training courses, and 128 engineer training ones.
Also in 2018, Vietjet successfully qualified for the IATA Operational Safety Audit and completed evaluation of ISO 27001 standards. It was also awarded the highest ranking for safety with 7 stars by the international institution AirlineRatings.com, the airline reported.
Vietjet Air currently operates nearly 400 flights daily on 113 routes throughout Vietnam and to Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, and China. The airline had transported over 70 million passengers.
Photo courtesy of Vietjet
