50 years after Australia established diplomatic relations with Vietnam, the first non-stop flights connecting the rapidly developing nation and Queensland will launch soon.

Vietjet will operate twice weekly services between Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) and Brisbane Airport (BNE) from June 16.

The flights are predicted to inject $25.6 million into Queensland’s visitor economy and support 240 jobs in the first year of operation. The three-year deal will support the planned growth of flights to four services per week by year three.

Vietjet operates around 450 flights per day across 160 routes, with 52 destinations within Vietnam. It also has potential to deliver passengers to Queensland from across its vast international network which serves Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, mainland China, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia and Europe.

Vietjet operates a modern fleet of 100 aircraft and will deploy an Airbus A330-300 onto the brand-new route to Brisbane from June 16, with a configuration of 12 business seats plus 365 seats in economy.

Flight VJ83 will arrive from Ho Chi Minh City every Monday and Friday at 2110 with VJ84 departing Brisbane at 2310. Tickets are on sale from today.

As Australia’s most connected domestic hub, passengers arriving into Brisbane from Vietnam will be able to connect to 53 destinations across the country, with 30 of them in Queensland.