Overview
- Multiple Australian outlets reported Monday that VietJet applied to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for an Australian air operator certificate to set up a locally incorporated domestic carrier.
- The federal government has acknowledged a ‘new entrant’ requested 2,252 take-off and landing slots at Sydney Airport and airport coordinators have reserved those timings pending approvals.
- Reports say the proposed operation would launch under a different brand with an initial fleet of about five to ten Boeing 737s focused on the Sydney–Melbourne–Brisbane ‘golden triangle’.
- CASA has not publicly confirmed the application and approvals typically take several months so any commercial launch remains conditional on regulatory and planning clearances.
- VietJet already flies between Australia and Vietnam, has affiliates in other countries and deep financial backing, which could help it scale quickly but does not guarantee success given past failures of new domestic entrants.