70,000 reasons Vietjet is flying into Western Sydney

Vietjet has become the fifth passenger airline to commit to Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport, announcing a Ho Chi Minh City service that starts on 9 January 2027. The carrier exchanged a memorandum of understanding with the airport at the Vietnam–Australia Tech Connect Forum in Sydney, timed to the state visit of Vietnam's General Secretary and President To Lam.

The headline reads as pure growth. The schedule tells a more interesting story.

From 11 January 2027, Vietjet cuts its existing Ho Chi Minh City–Sydney Kingsford Smith service from five weekly flights to three. The new Western Sydney route starts at two weekly and reaches three in March. On a full week basis the airline ends up with roughly the same Sydney-basin capacity it flies today, split across two airports 44 kilometres apart. This is a reallocation dressed as an expansion, and it makes Vietjet the first carrier to hedge its Sydney position rather than simply add a second point.

That matters because the split serves two different customers. Kingsford Smith keeps the connecting traffic, the corporate bookings and the inner-city catchment. Western Sydney gets the visiting friends and relatives market that pays for a 377-seat widebody. WSI chief executive Simon Hickey put the number on it: more than half of Greater Sydney's Vietnamese population lives in the west, over 70,000 people, and more than half a million passengers travelled between New South Wales and Vietnam during 2025.

The schedule

Flights leave Ho Chi Minh City every Tuesday and Saturday at 9:20pm, arriving at Western Sydney at 10:00am the next morning. The return departs Western Sydney every Wednesday and Sunday at 12:05pm, landing back in Ho Chi Minh City at 4:30pm the same day. The first Australian departure therefore falls on 10 January. One-way fares open from A$299.

Vietjet is also running a launch promotion across its Australian network, offering 20 per cent off base fares in Deluxe, SkyBoss and Business with promo code VJAUS20 until 11:00pm on 16 August, for travel between 7 September 2026 and 31 March 2027.

What to expect onboard

The route will use an Airbus A330-300 in a 377-seat layout, with 12 angled lie-flat business seats up front and 365 economy seats behind at nine abreast on a tight 29 inch pitch. There are no seatback entertainment screens or Wi-Fi, so bring your own device, and every meal, snack or drink costs extra, water included.

Vietjet has held the World's Best Ultra Low-Cost Carrier title since 2018 on the back of rock-bottom fares that have opened up air travel to people who could not afford it before. Passengers should read the fine print, because the base economy fare covers carry-on baggage only.

Suggested read: How Vietjet Air's fleet strategy drives low-cost growth

Why Western Sydney is worth the risk

WSI opens to passengers on 25 October 2026 as Australia's first major greenfield airport in more than half a century, with freight operations already running since late July. The site covers 1,780 hectares of Commonwealth land at Badgerys Creek, built around a single 3.7-kilometre runway that can take long-haul widebodies from day one.

The commercial hook for an airline is the absence of a curfew. Kingsford Smith has operated under the Sydney Airport Curfew Act 1995 since 1995, which shuts out most movements between 11pm and 6am, while WSI sits outside that legislation and runs 24 hours a day. Kingsford Smith handled 42.54 million passengers during 2025, leaving it with nowhere left to put the growth.

Capacity at WSI starts modestly, with a terminal built for 10 million passengers a year at opening. The endorsed Master Plan 2025–45 forecasts 8.4 million by 2030 before reaching 19.3 million by 2045, and the single runway supports roughly 37 million a year before a second parallel strip becomes necessary. Ultimate planned capacity sits near 80 million, which puts the airport in Heathrow territory.

A May 2026 decision by the federal government designated WSI as a separate international gateway with its own capacity allocations, independent of Kingsford Smith, and Emirates and Qatar Airways have since been cleared for services. Vietjet joins Jetstar, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Qantas on the confirmed list.

None of this is happening on commercial merit alone. The Ho Chi Minh City route draws support from the Western Sydney International Take-Off Fund, an A$16 million NSW Government partnership with the airport designed to buy routes into a field with no traffic history. Launch aid runs out eventually, so the question for January 2027 is whether the west Sydney Vietnamese community fills three widebodies a week once it does.

To celebrate the new route, Vietjet is offering a 20% discount on base fares for Deluxe, SkyBoss, and Business classes across all Vietnam – Australia routes.

 · Sale period: from now to 11:00 p.m., August 16, 2026 (GMT+7)

· Offer details: 20% discount on base fares (excluding taxes and fees) for Deluxe, SkyBoss, and Business classes when enter Promo Code: VJAUS20

· Applicable routes: All direct flights to and from Australia

· Travel period: September 7, 2026 – March 31, 2027 (Exclude peak travel periods and public holidays. Blackout dates may apply. More details please find here)

Bangkok next

Thai Vietjet plans four weekly Bangkok services to Western Sydney from November 2027, subject to regulatory approval. That would give the group two Southeast Asian trunk routes from an airport that has yet to board a single passenger.

Suggested read: Vietjet launches first long-haul budget flights into Europe

Vietjet holds a seven-star safety rating from AirlineRatings and took the World's Best Ultra Low-Cost Carrier title at the 2026 Airline Excellence Awards. You can see the full rating breakdown on our Vietjet Air airline page.