VietJet to start three weekly direct flights to Sri Lanka

VietJet Air will start scheduled direct flights between Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) and Colombo (CMB) from August 18, 2026, establishing the first scheduled direct air connection between Vietnam and Sri Lanka. The service will operate three weekly round trips using Airbus A320 aircraft, stated Nelson Wu, Managing Director, VietJet Air Cargo, in a social media post.

Flight VJ1875 will depart Ho Chi Minh City at 18:15 and arrive in Colombo at 21:50, while VJ1876 will depart Colombo at 23:00 and arrive in Ho Chi Minh City at 05:55 the following day. Until now, there has been no scheduled direct air service between the two countries, requiring passengers and cargo to connect through third-country gateways. The flight sector between Ho Chi Minh City and Colombo is approximately five hours.

The service was announced on May 8 in Colombo at the Vietnam-Sri Lanka Trade, Investment and Tourism Cooperation Forum. The new route comes as bilateral trade between Vietnam and Sri Lanka continues to expand.

Wu said two-way trade reached about $324 million in 2025, an increase of more than 16% compared with the previous year. Sri Lankan exports to Vietnam increased by close to 31% during the period. The two countries are working towards a bilateral trade target of $1 billion by 2030.

The new direct service will also provide an additional air cargo connection between the two markets. According to Wu, VietJet Air Cargo has worked with partners in both countries to establish the commercial arrangements for cargo ahead of the launch. IDAC will take outbound capacity under VietJet Air Cargo's PCSA structure, while M&C has been appointed as the carrier's GSA in Sri Lanka. Wu said both partners completed their tenders and had the commercial structure in place ahead of the first flight.

The direct corridor is expected to support the movement of Sri Lankan apparel, gems and time-sensitive shipments to Ho Chi Minh City. From there, cargo can connect to VietJet's wider network serving Australia, Japan, South Korea, China and Southeast Asia. On the other hand, Vietnamese exporters will also gain direct air connectivity into Sri Lanka and the wider South Asian market. The new service is therefore expected to provide a dedicated air cargo link for high-value and time-sensitive goods between the two countries, reducing the need to route such shipments through third-country gateways.

On August 10, marking the state visit of Vietnam's General Secretary and President To Lam to Australia, VietJet and Western Sydney International Airport (WSI) exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding and announced a new direct service between Ho Chi Minh City and Western Sydney. This connection is intended to expand air connectivity between Vietnam and Australia while supporting tourism, trade, investment, innovation and people-to-people links between the two countries.

These new services follows VietJet's reported growth in the second quarter and first half of 2026. The airline attributed the growth to the continued expansion of its international network, strong transport demand and its long-term investment strategy.

During Q2 2026, VietJet transported more than 6.2 million passengers across nearly 33,000 flights. In the first six months of 2026, the airline carried more than 13.4 million passengers across 72,000 flights. Total cargo volume during the period reached nearly 41,000 tonnes.

VietJet currently operates 213 routes, comprising 46 domestic and 167 international routes. During the first six months of the year, the airline launched new international services connecting Vietnam with China, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic. The airline has also been expanding across South Asia, Central Asia and Europe, seeking to strengthen trade, investment and tourism links between Vietnam and international markets.

VietJet continues to invest in its fleet, with an order book of more than 600 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, which the airline describes as one of the largest in the Asia-Pacific region. During the period, the carrier finalised engine agreements with Pratt & Whitney for GTF engines powering 44 Airbus A320neo aircraft and arranged aircraft financing for 12 Boeing 737-8 aircraft. The developments form part of VietJet's broader international expansion strategy, with the new Colombo route adding another direct connection between Vietnam and South Asia from August 18.