Over the years, Vietnam has barely been connected nonstop to India. In 2019, over 270,000 passengers flew between the two, but 80% had to fly via somewhere. Despite this, the market has grown strongly.
2022 has seen – and continues to see – enormous growth, with multiple new nonstop routes and six times more nonstop seats for sale than in 2019. Passenger numbers will grow strongly when combined with nonstops, lower fares, and greater publicity from operators VietJet, IndiGo, and Vietnam Airlines.
Bengaluru gets three Vietnam routes
The latest to announce is VietJet, linking three Vietnam cities to Bengaluru: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang. While Da Nang was previously revealed, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City weren't.
They all begin in November, with 12x weekly flights in total. There will be three (!) VietJet departures from Bengaluru on particular days. The schedule is as follows with all times local:
- Ho Chi Minh City to Bengaluru: 4x weekly from November 1st, operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays out, and Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays back. Timings to India: VJ1801, 21:20-00:40+1; from India: VJ1802, 01:40-08:15
- Hanoi to Bengaluru 4x weekly from November 2nd, operating on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Timings to India: VJ1921, 19:00-22:35; from India: VJ1922, 23:55-05:55+1
- Da Nang to Bengaluru: 4x weekly from November 28th, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. From India: VJ1971, 19:00-22:30; to India: VJ1972, 23:30-06:00+1
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Why Bengaluru?
In 2019, booking data shows that Bengaluru had approximately 34,000 passengers to/from Vietnam, all of whom traveled via somewhere, typically Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. (There would be no point looking at 2020 and 2021 figures as they're nearly non-existent.) As you'd expect, the city was India's fourth-largest market to Vietnam, after Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai.
Bengaluru-Vietnam passengers grew by 41% in two years despite having no nonstops. Don't get carried away: in 2019, it only had 47 passengers daily each way (PDEW). It shows how much demand will need to grow. And predictably, it was nearly all about two routes, as shown below:
- Ho Chi Minh City to Bengaluru: approximately 16,000 roundtrip passengers; average one-way fare of $235
- Hanoi to Bengaluru: 12,000 passengers; $232
- Da Nang to Bengaluru: <1,000 passengers; unknown fare
VietJet must strongly stimulate demand, especially to/from Da Nang, a virtually brand-new market that will be served a hefty 4x weekly. lt'll have more seats for sale in one week than passengers in all of 2019.
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The largest markets
The following highlights the ten largest Vietnam-India airport pairs by roundtrip passengers in 2019. In 2022, all but two are or will be served nonstop. Might VietJet begin Ho Chi Minh City-Chennai? It's a similar-sized market to Bengaluru, but while it's a 9% shorter route, it has a 16% lower fare, making it questionable.
- Ho Chi Minh City to Delhi: in 2019, 29,000 roundtrip passengers and $257 average one-way fare; in 2022, served up to 6x weekly by VietJet and Vietnam Airlines
- Hanoi to Kolkata: 29,000, $118; served 2x-3x weekly by IndiGo
- Ho Chi Minh City to Kolkata: 28,000, $137; served 3x-4x weekly by IndiGo
- Hanoi to Delhi: 28,000, $258; served up to 1x daily by VietJet and Vietnam Airlines
- Ho Chi Minh City to Mumbai: 26,000, $265; served up to 5x weekly by VietJet
- Hanoi to Mumbai: 21,000, $240; served up to 5x weekly by VietJet
- Ho Chi Minh City to Chennai: 17,000, $197; *unserved*
- Ho Chi Minh City to Bengaluru: 16,000, $235; 4x weekly flights are coming
- Hanoi to Bangalore: 12,000, $232; 4x weekly flights are coming
- Ho Chi Minh City to Kochi: 11,000, $152; *unserved*
Where would you like to see served? Let us know in the comments.