Budget carrier Vietjet Air plans to open a direct route linking Ho Chi Minh City and Melbourne, Australia from March 31.

There will be three flights a week using Airbus A330 aircraft, to increase to seven a week from December 2024.

Flights will take off from Ho Chi Minh City at 9.50am (local time) and land in Melbourne at 10.35pm (local time) every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

From Melbourne, flights will depart at 12.30am (local time) and reach Ho Chi Minh City at 5.15am every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

More than 123,000 Vietnamese travelled to Australia in 2019 before the outbreak of Covid-19.