Royal Brunei Airlines is evaluating Darwin, along with Brisbane, Gold Coast and Perth as potential new markets once its new fleet of A320neo aircraft arrive. The carrier operated to Darwin from 1983 to 2008, providing a valuable connecting to a range of Asian destinations as well as London.
VietJet is another potential start-up. Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh reportedly told the Northern territory Chamber of Commerce that he will facilitate the launch of a Ho Chi Minh City-Darwin service by VietJet Air in 2019. VietJet would be a new airline to Australia, although the Darwin-Ho Chi Minh route was previously served by Jetstar.
AirAsia X, the Malaysian Low Cost Carrier, is the third potential startup with the airlines Chief Executive Benyamin Ismail indicating the airline could also look at destinations such as Darwin, from Kuala Lumper, if it decides to take on the A321neo LR. Malaysia Airlines has previously operated this route and AirAsia X's affiliate, Airasia Indonesia, had two attempts at Darwin-Denpasar.
Meanwhile, Jetstar Asia has confirmed that they will increase weekly services from four to five. In addition daily flights are operated over the Christmas period. This announcement comes on the 10th anniversary of the Jetstar Groups establishment of a hub in Darwin to connect Australian ports to Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines via Darwin. The hub did not last too many years but did see an initial twice daily service to Singapore, along with a daily Tiger flight for a total of three Singapore flights per day.