HÀ NỘI — Bamboo Airways on Friday morning launched its direct air route linking Việt Nam with Australia at an inaugural ceremony, held in Melbourne international airport of Australia.

Commercial flights will be officially operated on the direct route starting early 2022, when Việt Nam is slated to begin resuming air links, connecting Việt Nam’s major cities of Hà Nội and HCM City with Australia’s busiest airports of Sydney and Melbourne.

The initial operating frequency is two round trips per week but could be gradually increased to four flights per week, according to demand.

The travel time is expected to fall to eight hours, down by half compared to using connecting flights.

Representatives of both sides said that they believed that the air route would facilitate travel of Vietnamese students and people working in Australia, as well as bolster the countries’ trade and tourism.

Earlier, the carrier joined hands with the BAA Training Việt Nam aviation training institute to open a training course for Airbus A320 pilots.

The airline plans to arrange similar courses in the future. — VNS