VietJet Air CEO Nguyen Duc Tam and AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes signed the agreement in Hanoi today.
AirAsia had earlier acquired a 30% equity stake in VietJet Air, which is launching a Vietnam-based low-cost airline. The trade name is tentatively VietJet AirAsia. VietJet AirAsia will be operating both domestic and international flights.
The governments of Vietnam and Malaysia have been fully supportive to the launch of VietJet AirAsia, which will be offering low fares to grow travel and tourism in Vietnam and in the rest of the ASEAN region. The signing of today’s agreement on the sidelines of the 16th ASEAN Conference reinforces both companies’ commitment to Vietnamese-Malaysian cooperation for economic growth in the region.
During the official signing ceremony, both companies also announced that they have entered into an engineering support services agreement.
Fernandes said, “We are grateful for the presence of the leaders of Malaysia and Vietnam as we sign this agreement for strategic partnership. Their presence today is a clear indication that we have the support of both governments in our efforts to further grow tourism in the ASEAN region. Their support is instrumental in our ability to offer low fares to the Vietnamese people and the international tourists who flock to Vietnam. VietJet AirAsia will complement the existing strengths of Vietnam’s tourism industry and help turn the country into a tourism powerhouse. We will be encouraging more tourists to fly to Vietnam’s various beautiful destinations with our low fares and contribute to tourism receipts that will in turn spur economic benefits.”
"VietJet AirAsia will help boost tourist arrivals in Malaysia as well, improving the already strong people-to-people relations between Vietnam and Malaysia and strengthening the process of ASEAN integration," added Fernandes.
“The launch of flights by VietJet AirAsia will undoubtedly benefit both leisure and business travelers. We expect our low flexible fares and world-class service quality to especially benefit people and enterprises in Vietnam, which are helping boost our economy. We’ll also connect Vietnam to more cities in ASEAN to boost intra-regional travel,” Tam said.
“Furthermore, with this services agreement, VietJet Air can enjoy technical expertise, experience in quality assurance, safety and security up to international standard, high quality manpower in aviation industry with a roadmap for technology transfer to VietJet Air’s staff, which contributes to raising the standards of services and safety and security in the airline market in Vietnam as well as in ASEAN region,” Tam added.
About VietJet Air
Being licensed for aviation business in December 2007 with the initial capital of VND 600 billion, VietJet Air was the first and only aviation joint stock company in Vietnam permitted to operate both domestic and international routes. The founding shareholders of VietJet Air are Sovico Holdings, HD Bank and experienced, dedicated experts in the civil aviation industry of Vietnam. VietJet Air commits to provide its passengers the opportunity to experience high-quality, professional and safe air service, and respect, friendliness reflecting the cultural characteristics of Vietnamese people. The airline observes the principles to protect environment and be responsible to community.
About AirAsia and AirAsia X
AirAsia is the leading and largest low-cost carrier in Asia. It is proud to be a truly ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) airline with established operations based in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. It services an extensive network of destinations stretching across the ASEAN region (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines), mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Australia. Through its low-cost long-haul affiliate AirAsia X, it is able to reach more destinations in China, Taiwan, Australia and the UK. Both AirAsia and AirAsia X have carried more than 85 million guests to date and have approximately 90 aircraft. AirAsia was named the 2009 World’s Best Low Cost Airline in the annual World Airline Survey by Skytrax, and AirAsia and AirAsia X were named joint winners of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Airline of the Year Award for 2009.
For more information, contact:
Desiree Bandal
AirAsia Communications
Office No. : +603 8660 4005
Mobile No. : +6012 218 4214
Email : [email protected]
In Hanoi:
Ms. Nguy?n Thu Th?y — PR
Mobile No. : +84 913 541 386
Email : [email protected]
In Ho Chi Minh City:
Mr. L? V?n H?i — Brand, Marketing & PR Manager
VietJet Air
Office No. : +848 3547 1866 ~141
Mobile No. : +84 908 771 069
Email : [email protected]