The Jetstar Pacific airline opened two new routes on December 15 from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang and Phu Quoc to meet travelers' growing demands.

The low-cost carrier operates one daily flight on each route, using Airbus A320 aircrafts.

Jetstar will conduct one return flight each day in the early stage. The flights on the Ho Chi Minh City-Nha Trang route depart Ho Chi Minh City at 11.35 am and return from Nha Trang at 1.05 pm.

The flights on the Ho Chi Minh City-Phu Quoc route take off from Ho Chi Minh City at 12.25pm and from Phu Quoc at 1.50 pm.

According to General Director of Jetstar Pacific Le Hong Ha, nearly 9.000 passengers have bought promotional tickets with a special price of 470,000 VND (22.30 USD) for a one-way couples’ ticket on the two new domestic routes.

The airline plans to buy five more Airbus A320 from January 2014 to open new domestic routes between Hanoi and Phu Quoc/Da Lat/Can Tho, and international flights between Hanoi and Bangkok/Hong Kong, and Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore/Bangkok.

Jetstar Pacific is Vietnam’s first value based carrier. The carrier transformed from Pacific Airlines to Jetstar Pacific in May 2008. Jetstar Pacific had 27 percent of its stake held by the Qantas Group, with the remainder held by Vietnamese investors including the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC).

Jetstar Pacific operates an existing seven aircraft fleet made up of five Boeing 737s and two Airbus A320s to seven destinations across Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Hue, Vinh, Hai Phong and Nha Trang.

The low-cost carrier has opened sales for 28,000 seats on routes during the 2014 traditional Lunar New Year, the longest festival in a year, to serve the demand of passengers. This is the second ticket selling the carrier implemented, after it offered 136,000 seats for the holiday, including 14,000 seats during the rush period.

Jetstar Pacific has forecast that travel demand will rise sharply within 40 days before and after the holiday, including 20 days before it from January 12 to 31 and 20 days after it from February 1 to 20.-VNA