{"id":767494,"date":"2026-06-29T09:33:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T09:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/767494\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T09:33:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T09:33:12","slug":"vietjet-air-international-airline-applies-to-take-on-qantas-virgin-domestic-duopoly-in-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/767494\/","title":{"rendered":"VietJet Air: International airline applies to take on Qantas-Virgin domestic duopoly in Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

An international airline<\/a> is plotting an entrance to the Australian<\/a> domestic market, in a move experts say would \u201ctransform\u201d the local aviation industry.<\/p>\n

Low-cost Vietnamese<\/a> airline VietJet Air is planning to go up against local juggernauts Qantas and Virgin by seeking regulatory clearance to operate domestically in Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

VietJet Air is understood to have applied for clearance to begin domestic operations in Australia.\u00a0Supplied<\/p>\n

If approved by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, VietJet would operate under a different name using the airline\u2019s small Boeing 737s.<\/p>\n

It would then set up its own Australian subsidiary, capitalising on landing space opening up on the tarmac in Sydney.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It would be a brave step for the Asian carrier, as several other airlines have failed to overcome the Qantas-Virgin duopoly that dominates Australia.<\/p>\n

Singapore Airlines\u2019 budget subsidiary Tiger Airways was the last international airline to stake a claim in the Australian domestic market, when it launched in November 2007.<\/p>\n

Flights operated under Singapore parent company until 2013, when it was absorbed by\u00a0Virgin Australia and rebranded to Tigerair Australia.<\/p>\n

The airline collapsed in March 2020<\/a> owing to the COVID pandemic.<\/p>\n

Other local airlines have also failed in their own pursuit for a presence at domestic terminals.<\/p>\n

Bonza flights were grounded in July 2024,<\/a> less than 12 months after the budget carrier launched.<\/p>\n

Regional Express Airlines (Rex) scaled back operations to only regional services around the same time, before it was saved by a US buyer<\/a> in October.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

VietJet Air first landed in Australia in 2023 with flights to Ho Chi Minh City. \u00a0Supplied<\/p>\n

Aviation expert Peter Harbison said VietJet\u2019s presence in the domestic market would have a \u201cmassive impact\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big difference here is it\u2019s a well-established airline, it\u2019s got very substantial financial backing, and secondly it\u2019s also an international airline that knows the Australian market very well,\u201d Harbison said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would transform the market no doubt about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

If successful, VietJet\u2019s presence at domestic terminals could help drive down fares.<\/p>\n

Harbison estimated local VietJet flights could be \u201cpretty easily\u201d taking off in as soon as six to nine months if the regulatory watchdog gives it the green light.<\/p>\n

The airline first arrived in Australia three years ago with flights from Australian capital cities to Ho Chi Minh City.<\/p>\n

It has already spread its wings throughout Asia with subsidiaries in Thailand and Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n

Melbourne Airport chief executive Lorie Argus welcomed the idea of the Vietnamese airline joining the local market.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Townsville,<\/p>\n

Virgin Australia and Qantas group make up 99 per cent of the domestic aviation market.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve certainly got room, of course we\u2019ll have room from an infrastructure perspective,\u201d Argus said.<\/p>\n

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority said it does not comment on airlines\u2019 commercial plans.<\/p>\n

In a statement, VietJet told nine.com.au it \u201ccontinuously evaluates opportunities for international cooperation and growth that align with our long-term strategy\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we do not comment on market speculation,\u201d a VietJet spokesperson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An international airline is plotting an entrance to the Australian domestic market, in a move experts say would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":767495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-767494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}