Thursday 13 April 2023

• Sydney Airport welcomes 50th airline, the highest number in its 103-year history
• The 50th airline, Vietjet, had its inaugural flight this morning from Ho Chi Minh City
• Vietjet is the 6th new airline Sydney Airport has onboarded in the last 12 months further highlighting the strength of the recovery from COVID
• International passenger numbers continue to grow with the Easter school holidays forecast to be 85% recovered compared to pre-COVID

In a major milestone, Sydney Airport has today welcomed its 50th airline with Vietjet’s inaugural service from Ho Chi Minh City arriving this morning.

This is the highest number of airlines flying regular scheduled passenger services the airport has ever seen in its 103-year history.

Flight VJ85 touched down in Sydney at just after 07:30 today with nearly 400 passengers onboard. Vietjet will be offering three return services a week from Ho Chi Minh City a week on its A330-300 fleet.

Sydney Airport now has four airlines flying to Vietnam, a rapidly growing tourist market which attracted more than 317,000 Australian travellers in 2019.

In total, Sydney Airport has now onboarded six new airlines over the last 12 months and existing airlines have returned and are continuing to increase capacity, providing great opportunities and choice for the travelling public.

In 2019, there were 48 airlines flying regular passenger services through Sydney with this dropping to around 20 airlines in April 2020.

Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said: “For the first time in our proud 103-year history, we have 50 airlines flying through Sydney Airport.”

“This is an incredible achievement when you consider air travel was almost non-existent through COVID.

“Attracting airline networks to rebuild capacity to Sydney is key to supporting the recovery of international tourism, business travel, student travel and the broader New South Wales economy.

“The Vietnam market has experienced a strong surge in capacity and demand, with passenger volumes 14 per cent above pre-COVID levels in March 2023.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Vietjet to Sydney Airport, as the airline will be providing a further low-cost option to this sought-after and popular destination.

"Vietjet’s extensive domestic network will also deliver greater choice for passengers wanting to explore other cities across Vietnam.

“As Australia marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Vietnam it’s fitting that our 50th airline is a Vietnamese carrier.”

Vietjet Vice President, Nguyen Thanh Son said: “Australia plays an important role in our business strategy. Connecting Sydney with Ho Chi Minh City demonstrates Vietjet’s strong commitment to provide a new choice for Australians to explore Vietnam and other Asian destinations through our diverse classes of SkyBoss Business, Skyboss, Deluxe and Eco.”

“Our flights will make significant contributions to the economic and tourism growth of Vietnam, Australia and New South Wales in the coming years.”

Note to Editor

List of 6 new airlines to launch services in last 12 months

• Batik Air Indonesia
• Bamboo Airways
• SriLankan Airlines
• Thai AirAsia X
• T’way Air
• Vietjet Air