By Key Facts
- Aircraft Type: Airbus A320 family
- Operator: Vietjet
- Location: Vietnam – Philippines (Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Cebu, Clark)
- Date: Launch from 10 November 2024
Vietjet Philippines routes are set to multiply sharply this northern winter, with the Ho Chi Minh City-based low-cost carrier announcing services from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to Cebu, plus a new connection between Ho Chi Minh City and Clark — all launching 10 November. Each route will operate three times weekly.
The expansion represents a dramatic step up from Vietjet’s current Philippine footprint, which is limited to a single route between Ho Chi Minh City and Manila. On both the Ho Chi Minh City–Cebu and Ho Chi Minh City–Clark services, Vietjet will be the only carrier operating, giving it an uncontested position on two of the three new links.
Why Vietjet Is Targeting the Philippines
The airline cited rising leisure and business traffic between Vietnam and the Philippines as the driver behind the push. In a statement, Vietjet said the new routes “will give travellers more options for leisure and business travel and visits to family and friends, while supporting stronger tourism and trade ties between Vietnam and the Philippines.”
The Philippines has become an increasingly attractive destination for Southeast Asian low-cost carriers. Cebu, the country’s second-largest city, draws both beach tourists and a significant overseas Filipino worker community, while Clark — north of Manila in Pampanga province — is served by Clark International Airport and offers an alternative gateway into Luzon.
Broader Asia Expansion Running in Parallel
The new Vietjet Philippines routes are part of a wider growth push across Asia. From 20 December, Vietjet will launch four weekly flights between Da Nang and Osaka, making it the second carrier on that Japan corridor after national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines.
Additionally, Vietjet will resume four-times-weekly flights to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand from 25 October, reinstating a market it had previously served.
The pace of announcements has been notable. Just a week before this latest network update, Vietjet confirmed it would begin serving Western Sydney’s new international airport in January 2025, becoming only the third international carrier to operate there. Together, these moves position Vietjet as one of the more aggressively expanding low-cost operators in the Asia-Pacific region heading into 2025.
Vietjet operates an Airbus A320-family fleet and has built its network largely on point-to-point leisure and visiting-friends-and-relatives traffic across Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia, a model well suited to the thinner secondary routes it is now opening in the Philippines.
