Vietjet takes wing to Sydney and Melbourne, Brisbane to follow

Vietjet has officially debuted Down Under as non-stop flights between Melbourne, Sydney and Ho Chi Minh City take to the skies. Brisbane enters the mix from June 16, while links to other Australian cities including Darwin and Adelaide are expected to be unveiled soon.

Though Vietjet is technically considered a low-cost carrier, its international Airbus A330s offer a premium cabin called ‘Skyboss Business’. But it’s not quite business class as you know it: the 12 leather seats fold out into an older-style angled flatbed.

The Skyboss Business cabin comprises two rows of six.

While still early days, the airline plans to eventually boost its three times-weekly Melbourne connections to daily by December 2024.

In the meantime, Vietjet runs to the following schedule from Victoria.

• Flights depart from Melbourne every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, with wheels up after midnight at 12:30am, and touchdown into Ho Chi Minh City at 5:15am.
• On the rebound, flights depart Ho Chi Minh City at 9:50am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, arriving into Melbourne at 10:35pm.

April 12 sees three Sydney-Ho Chi Minh City flights per week, as follows:

• Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City flights fires up every Monday, Thursday and Saturday at 10:15am, with a mid-afternoon arrival of 4:30pm.
• For the return, passengers bid farewell to Ho Chi Minh City every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 7:30pm, landing in Sydney at 7:20am the following day.

The airline's Skyboss Business class comes with an angled flatbed and complimentary meals.

Our tip for relaxing or catching some shut-eye on the 8+ hour flight: try to set up the seat as a recliner rather than a sloping lie-flat bed, and wedge a pillow behind your lower back for added comfort.

Perks of Vietjet’s premium cabin include 40kg of checked baggage and 18kg carry-on, along with lounge access, priority check-in and complimentary meals.

(It’s worth noting Vietjet doesn’t offer any inflight entertainment, so a good book or some pre-downloaded content on your own device is essential.)

Amenity kits are included to help travellers relax.

The airline’s Sunshine State debut – the first connection from Queensland to Vietnam – will adhere to the following schedule from June 16.

• Jetting off twice a week, the non-stop VJ84 from Brisbane will see wheels up at 11:10pm every Monday and Friday, touching down in Ho Chi Minh City at 4:40am local time.
• The reverse VJ83 will then bid farewell to Ho Chi Minh at 10:05am those same days, landing at 9:10pm.

Interest in Vietnam has soared since the country’s March 2022 reopening, with the major hubs of Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi still receiving the lion’s share of business and leisure travel, though lesser known ports like Quy Nhon and Ninh Binh are becoming increasingly popular.

From Ho Chi Minh City, Vietjet offers connections to a multitude of domestic and international ports, such as Da Nang and Hanoi, and Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Cambodia.