Vietnamese budget carrier VietJet Air has opened its Hanoi – Bangkok route starting yesterday in an effort to gain a bigger share in the growing market of Thailand.

It operates 7 two-way weekly flights charging VND450,000 ($21) per customer for a one-way flight on the newly opened route.

Accordingly, the flight from Hanoi starts at 10:50am and arrives in Bangkok at 12:40pm. The return flight from Bangkok starts at 1:35 pm at Suvarnabhumi Airport and arrives at Noi Bai Airport at 3:25pm.

“The demand for travel between Vietnam and Thailand is increasing considerably nowadays, especially during the summer, while trade is also growing,” said Desmond Lin, Business Development Manager of VietJetAir.

“This new route will help meet that demand and encourage further growth,” he added.

VietJet Air is targeting the growing Thailand market with the recent plan to establish Thai VietJet Air, a 51-49 joint venture between VietJet Air and Kan Air airline. The negotiation between the two parties on the establishment took place on Tuesday last week, but no more information has been announced lately, according to The Bangkok Post.

Specifically, Kan Air will own 51 percent stake in the joint venture as Thailand law limits foreign ownership in domestic airlines.

Thai VietJet Air is expected to operate its first flight in the next 6 months using 2 Airbus A320. The flight is locally served first, and gradually progress to regional countries, said The Bangkok Post.

VietJet Air is the second airline in ASEAN after Indonesia Lion Air to target the potential budget airlines in Thailand.

Vietnamese low-cost airline VietJet Air, which mainly operates domestically, has 6 Airbus A320 and is ordering 20 more units.

Besides Thailand, VietJet Air is planning to open new flights to other regional destinations including Singapore, Inchon (Korea), Narita (Tokyo, Japan) and Taipei (Taiwan).

The budget carrier, which started to fly in late 2011, is the only low cost airline now in Vietnam. It is currently the 2nd biggest local carrier accounting for 15 percent of the local market share after the state-owned national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (70 percent).