Marie Jemma B. Saranillo told representatives of travel and logistic service agencies in Ho Chi Minh city(HCMC) that the national flag carrier of the Philippines would commence services to Australia’s city of Brisbane on March 17 and Saudi Arabia’s city of Riyadh on March 28.
Saranillo said the airline’s flights to the two new destinations would have good connections with the daily service the carrier conducted between the Philippine capital of Manila and Vietnam’s commercial hub.
Saranillo told the Daily after the Media/Trade Briefing with the representatives that the connecting time took about one and a half hours for the passengers from HCMC to Manila before they boarded the Philippine Airlines’ flights to Brisbane and Riyadh.
Philippine Airlines has already accepted bookings for flights to Brisbane. Currently, the airline offers fares starting from US$270 for a one-way trip between HCMC and Australia’s destinations including Brisbane via Manila and from US$325 for a roundtrip on this route. The promotional fares are some US$300 lower than normal rates.
Also, Philippine Airlines sells discount return tickets from US$777 for the flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco stateside as well as US$250 for the flights from HCMC to Manila and one more destination in the Philippines.
Saranillo said Philippine Airlines was offering discount airfares and aggressively promoting the Philippines in Vietnam in support of a major campaign to attract more Vietnamese tourists to that country.
In January, the Philippine Department of Tourism launched the campaign entitled “Xin Chao Philippines” (Hello Philippines) with the focus on promoting the country’s tourist attractions through print publications and road show activities in Vietnam.
Vietnam Airlines will launch five weekly services on the HCMC-Can Tho-Phu Quoc route from March 28 as part of the flagship carrier’s to expand domestic services in summer.
The airline’s planning and market department told the Daily on Monday that the 65-seat ART72 plane would fly on the short-haul route on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.
The ATR72 will take off at Tan Son Nhat Airport at 9:45 a.m. and from Phu Quoc Island at 12:35 p.m. of the days.
Asked about the plan to transport more passengers to Danang during an upcoming international firework competition later this month, the department said a detailed plan for flight frequency increase had not been available.
Vietnam’s low-cost carrier Jetstar Pacific told the Daily on Monday that it would not add any flight to the daily schedule for Danang during the event. The airline now operates five daily flights from Hanoi and HCMC to the central coastal city and vice versa. Hoping this will a good news for tourists to Vietnam.

VietNamNet/SGT