The budget carrier VietJetAir has announced it will open its first international route linking Ho Chi Minh City and Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok in the first quarter of 2013.

With the new service, VietJetAir will become Vietnam’s first holdings airlines joining the international aviation market.

The HCM City-Bangkok route will start on February 10, 2013 with a daily fight in the first stage. The 90-minute flight will depart from HCM City at 11:00 am and from Bangkok at 13:30 pm.

According to VietJetAir Business Development Director Desmond Lin, joining the international aviation market is an important milestone in the development of the carrier.

VietJetAir has recently launched a domestic route from Ho Chi Minh City to the imperial city of Hue . This is the carrier’s seventh domestic route after Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Vinh.

The airline plans to open new routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc and from Hanoi to Da Lat in December this year.

It will also launch other international routes linking Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi with Southeast and North Asian countries.

VietJetAir is now the second largest airlines in Vietnam with about 250 flights per day linking major cities in the country. The carrier expects to transport nearly 1 million passengers in 2012.