What's latest on VietjetAir India operations?
Vietjet Air launched India operations in 2022 and flew lakhs of Indians to Vietnam thanks to their cheap tickets (11k INR onwards for return ticket)
I did a trip from Mumbai to Phu Quoc in September 2022 and the trip went well. However soon after that VietJetAir was in news for suspending operations from Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Apparently they had sold thousands of tickets before getting required permission to operate the flights.
Some of my friends who had booked on Hyd/Blr cancelled flights got some refund, while I still see many complaints on twitter about people not getting their money back.
However, VietJetAir has not given up on India operations. They are advertising heavily on youtube, FB etc trying to win Indian customers.
I spent some time on VietJetAir website to understand for what all destinations they are accepting bookings. Below are my findings
1. The once popular 9 rupee ticket is now gone. Minimum one way ticket costs around 50 USD+ tax, round trip tickets costing onwards of 19000 INR. Their price advantage is clearly lost. At 20-25k return we have many other options such as Indigo, AirAsia, Scoot, Thai Smile and more...
2. VietJet seem to have suspended flights from Ahmedabad. Couldn't see a single ticket for various date and destination combinations I checked
3. Vietjet has reduced frequency. Earlier there were 3 flights between Delhi/Mumbai to Saigon, Hanoi etc, now I see one flight per week
4. Phu Quoc flights seem to have been cancelled, so is Da Nang from Mumbai. Only Saigon and Hanoi flights are largely operational
5. Vietjet Air seem to be trying their luck selling one stop tickets to Singapore, Bali etc. However without a clear price advantage and concerns on their reliability, sales will be tough as Indians have several other options- Indigo, Air Asia, Scoot etc.
6. VietJet India customer care is still not clear. They have a twitter handle with just 6000 followers and they won't reply to concerns from passengers.
7. Vietjet Air print ad was still showing Bengaluru & Hyd.. Recently they've removed it from print, but youtube ads still show them (video editing is more complex!)
This @VietjetIndia is still proudly advertising flights from @BLRAirport and Hyd @RGIAHyd after all the fiasco pic.twitter.com/sIBZ6ORqRi
— Shrinidhi Hande (@enidhi) January 28, 2023
I wanted to plan another trip to Vietnam- Da Nang but VietJetAir's unreliability is keeping me on hold. Phu Quoc, Hanoi and Saigon I've already visited. I will watch them for another 6 months and see how the bikini airline sustains its India operations.
In my personal opinion instead of rapid expansion Vietjet should have stuck to 2-3 cities in India, fly properly, win trust of Indian travelers and then expand. They expanded rapidly but unable to maintain service levels, so hard to trust their reliability at the moment.
I could have booked Mumbai-Busan (South Korea) on Vietjet Air, but I found Singapore Airline is a better deal- even if a bit expensive, ticket includes checked bags, meals, entertainment, transit via Changi etc.
Will keep an eye on VietJetAir's India operations to see if I can book a ticket on them to Taipei and few other destinations I have in mind...
Do you have an upcoming flight with VietJetAir
Also read: my Vietnam travel guide *
I have lot trust with this airline after their Bengaluru fiasco. Luckily, I got full refund without much difficulty. Will wait for sometime and check their reliability before thinking of flying with them!!
ReplyDeletegood to know. Thanks for the comment
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