Mekong Aviation Joint Stock Co., better known as Air Mekong, has disclosed its plan to fly daily between Hanoi and Phu Quoc off the Mekong delta province of Kien Giang in its summer schedule.

Truong Thanh Vu, director of commercial services at Air Mekong, confirmed on Thursday that the private airline would commence the new air route on April 28, using the 90-seat Bombardier CRJ 900 to serve tourists and business passengers.

As scheduled, Air Mekong’s aircraft will leave Noi Bai Airport for the resort island at 6 a.m. and will then make a return flight to the airport in the capital city in the early afternoon of the same say. Vu told the Daily that the Hanoi-Phu Quoc would be the longest domestic air route in Vietnam.

He said it would take more than two hours for Air Mekong’s Bombardier CRJ 900 to finish the Hanoi-Phu Quoc route, or half of the time for passengers to travel by air between the two destinations via a stopover in HCMC as currently.

Air Mekong offers both deluxe and economy-class seats on its Hanoi-Phu Quoc flights with single economy-class fares starting from just over VND2.27 million (some US$116) exclusive of airport taxes and surcharges.

Vu said profitability of the Hanoi-Phu Quoc route could be viable if seating occupancy was high, even given the promotional rate in the initial time. The carrier will operate Hanoi-HCMC-Phu Quoc flights after launch of the Hanoi-Phu Quoc services to cater to different demand for air travel.

Doan Quoc Viet, chairman of Air Mekong, did not mention the business performance of the new air route but stressed that this service would begin a new chapter of development for the start-up airline and help make Phu Quoc a more attractive destination for tourists.

In its latest development plan, Air Mekong will concentrate its resources on the flights to Buon Ma Thuot, Dalat and Pleiku in the Central Highlands, tourist islands including Phu Quoc and Con Dao in southern Vietnam and the north-south route, HCMC-Hanoi.

In the coming summer, Air Mekong will fly Hanoi-Dalat twice a day on weekends, maintain two daily services between HCMC and Buon Ma Thuot, and plan to increase frequencies from HCMC to Con Dao, Pleiku and Phu Quoc. Vu said the carrier would conduct a daily flight between TPHCM and Con Dao off Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province from April 28, instead of three flights on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays as currently.

The carrier operates seven daily flights between Hanoi and HCMC from Thursday until February 14, or three flights more than normal days to make the most of usually surging demand for air travel from the capital city to this economic hub after the Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet that fell on February 3.

Air Mekong suspended its daily HCMC-Danang service last week, and Vu said the carrier would consider resuming this route when it received more aircraft, possibly later this year because the airline was looking for appropriate planes to expand its existing fleet of four Bombardier CRJ 900s.

* Vietnam’s low-cost Jetstar Pacific Airlines will on Friday sell promotional one-way fares from VND250,000 (around US$12.8) for its domestic flights between HCMC and Hue, and from VND500,000 for the services to Vinh and Haiphong.

The discount JetSaver fares available on www.jetstar.com will be valid for the flights departing from April 5 to 20, and those passengers with 7-kg carry-on luggage. Customers will have to pay an extra VND65,000 per sector for JetSaver Light tickets if they want to check in 20-kg luggage.