Osaka, June 7, 2017 - Today, Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific Airlines (a subsidiary of the company) held a new product launch on Vietnam-Osaka route, under the witness of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and over 100 representatives from the Vietnamese government, Consulate of Vietnam in Japan, business partners and major news agencies from the two countries.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc congratulated Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific on the rapid development and success in constant improvement on their flight products to/from Japan. The flights create a bridge for trade and tourism between Vietnam and Japan, and bring the two people the more options and convenience of air travel.

Vietnam Airlines officially announced the launch of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft on the route between Hanoi - Osaka, marking the completion of putting into operation its new Boeing 787 and Airbus A350-900 XWB aircraft on the key routes between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Japan's two largest cities - Tokyo and Osaka. These flights have 4-star international quality standards and enjoy a high level of punctuality index.

Jetstar Pacific is going to open two direct flights connecting Hanoi and Da Nang with Osaka, thus becoming Vietnam's first low-cost airline operating direct flights to Japan. The operation of the first flight is expected to occur on early September 2017, with the frequency of 4 round trips per week from both cities by Airbus A320 aircraft (with 180-seat capacity). Jetstar Pacific has completed the related procedures and is waiting for the authorities to grant license in order to begin operating commercial flights and selling tickets in mid-June 2017. One-way economy class ticket prices (not including promotional fares) on Hanoi – Osaka and Da Nang – Osaka route are expected to start from 1.5 million dong ($ 68.18 or 7,500 JPY), excluding taxes and fees.

Mr. Duong Tri Thanh, CEO of Vietnam Airlines Corporation said: "With an average growth of over 12% during the last 5 years, Japan is among the top five markets regarding volume of passengers travelling to Vietnam and one of the strategic markets in Vietnam Airlines’ long-term development plan. The putting into operation of Vietnam Airlines’ Boeing 787 on Hanoi-Osaka route and the launch Jetstar Pacific’s new routes at affordable prices have marked a major improvement in our quality of services and products in the Japanese market, meeting the high and diverse demands business and leisure travel between the two countries.

Vietnam Airlines is currently the largest carrier operating direct flights between Vietnam and Japan. With an average of 70 regular flights per week, 10 regular air routes connecting Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang with five airports in Japan, namely Haneda, Narita, Kansai (Osaka), Centrair (Nagoya) and Fukuoka. Since the first direct flight operated in 1994, Vietnam Airlines' passenger volume has reached 10 million passengers, accounting for 65% of market share.

According to statistics, air passenger volume between the two countries reached over 1.1 million passengers in 2016. It is expected to reach over 1.3 million passengers in 2017 (an increase of 17%) and continue to grow significantly thanks to the wide-body aircraft of Vietnam Airlines and low-fare direct flights of Jetstar Pacific. In the coming period, Vietnam Airlines is going to complete its products and put into operation the modern wide-body fleet on other routes between Vietnam and Japan, as well as collaborate with Jetstar Pacific to develop a wide range of new products.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Le Hoang Dzung - Spokesman

Vietnam Airlines Corporation

200 Nguyen Son Street, Long Bien District, Hanoi

Phone: 84.4.38732732 (ext 2151)

Email: public-relations@vietnamairlines.com

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[Note to Editors]

1.      About Vietnam Airlines:

As the national flag carrier of Vietnam, headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam Airlines operates 85 routes to 20 domestic and 29 international destinations with average 400 daily flights. The Airline is operating young fleet of new and modern aircraft, including Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus A350-900 XWB, Airbus A330, and Airbus A321. Vietnam Airlines became official member of SkyTeam Alliance on June 10th, 2010 and also the first representative of the alliance in South East Asia region. On 12th July 2016, Vietnam Airlines received a 4-Star Airline Certificate from Skytrax, the world’s leading airline and airport rating organization.

In the partnership agreement with strategic partner ANA Holdings Inc. (holding 8,771% of the shares), the only 4-star airline of Vietnam and the only 5-star airline of Japan - ANA has cooperated on 10 codeshare international flights between Vietnam - Japan, 4 Vietnam Airlines’ domestic flights and 21 ANA’s domestic flights. ANA Mileage Club (AMC) members and Lotusmiles (LS) members of Vietnam Airlines can earn miles on codeshare flights and on flights operated by both carriers.

2.      About Jetstar Pacific

Jetstar Pacific is the first low-cost carrier in Vietnam, officially established in May 2008. Jetstar Pacific is owned by two major shareholders, namely Vietnam Airlines (70%) and Qantas (30%).

It currently operates nearly 100 international flights per week to Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Guangzhou and more than 500 domestic flights per week to most of Vietnam's famous tourism destinations. These are connected to Jetstar Group's huge low fare network with 80 destinations in 17 countries through 4,000 weekly flights operated by Jetstar Airways (Australia and New Zealand), Jetstar Japan (Japan), Jetstar Asia (Singapore) and Jetstar Pacific. By 2015, Jetstar Pacific is proud to be the best low cost airline in Vietnam by 2015 (according to Nielsen). As planned, Jetstar Pacific will expand its fleet from the current 20 Airbus A320 aircraft to 30 by 2020.

In Vietnam, Jetstar Pacific is currently implementing a dual brand strategy with Vietnam Airlines. This is part of the company's strategy to diversify its products, meet the diverse needs of its customers and enhance its presence in the domestic and regional aviation market.