Sydney (VNA) – Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways and Melbourne International Airport ofAustralia inked a Memorandum of Understanding on opening a new air routeconnecting Hanoi and Melbourne on November 26.

Deputy PrimeMinister Trinh Dinh Dung, who is on a working visit to Australia, witnessed thesigning.

This is the firsttime a Vietnamese airline looks to open direct flights between the Vietnamesecapital and Melbourne, which is expected to further boost the cooperation andtrade between the two countries.

A direct service betweenVietnam’s southern hub Ho Chi Minh City and Melbourne served around 259,000travellers last year, and 208,000 in the first nine months of 2019, a 7.7percent increase on a yearly basis. This shows the potential of direct airservices between Vietnam and Australia.

At the signingceremony, Standing Vice President of Bamboo Airways said the airline wants to expandto Australia due to the market’s potential. Vietnam and Australia entered astrategic partnership in March last year, and the Vietnamese community inAustralia has now numbered nearly half a million, while there are only a fewdirect routes between the two countries.

Bamboo Airwayshopes to launch the Hanoi-Melbourne service in the fourth quarter of this year,using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner airplanes. Theroute is said to be the prerequisite for the airline to open more directflights to other destinations in Australia in the future.

The same day,Deputy PM Dung also witnessed the signing of another MOU between Bamboo Airwaysand the RMIT University on expanding training and research, and encouraginggreater participation of women in aviation./.