Ho Chi Minh: Emirates airline has expanded this week its global network by adding the Vietnamese business hub city of Ho Chi Minh to its routes and became the first Arab airline to have a daily non-stop flights to the Far Eastern city.

The first direct Emirates flight EK 390 arrived at Tan Son Nhat Airport on Saturday evening, marking the beginning of the regular daily non-stop flights.

“It is a good time to connect Vietnam with the world via Dubai,” said Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice-President, Passenger Sales Worldwide. There are “lots of opportunities”, he added.

Noting the growth of Vietnamese GDP (gross domestic product) of six per cent, Antinori added that the Far Eastern country comes as number 13 in terms of world’s populous countries. Vietnam’s population is estimated at 91.5 million.

The country also offers a “good mix”, and Dubai’s location between Vietnam and the West makes Emirates’ move a “winning combination”, Antinori told Gulf News in an interview on Tuesday morning.

The daily flight aims to “attract Vietnamese businessmen making business with the rest of the world”, the senior Emirates executive explained.

Nearly 8,000 Vietnamese live in UAE at present, and 22,000 in Saudi Arabia, Antinori said, adding that there is a growing number of Vietnamese in Germany, where Emirates operates eight flights a day.

Germany is one of the 31 European destinations Emirates flies to. The company, which prides itself of being the “fastest growing airline in the world”, also operates to 22 destinations in Africa, 16 in the Middle East, 11 in the Americas, and 19 in the West Asia and Indian Ocean region.

Asian and Australian market share constitutes nearly “20 per cent” of Emirates’ global markets. While UAE is the “biggest market” for the airline, UK market comes second, Antinori noted.

Emirates’ daily flights to Ho Chi Minh come at a time when several international airlines are planning to start flights to the Far Eastern country, expected to be among the top fastest growing markets in a few years’ time.

According to the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV), the country is expected to receive between 34 million and 36 million passengers a years by 2015, and between 52m and 59m by 2019.

Already, Qatari Airways has flights to Vietnam on its schedules but they are through Bangkok.

Among the other airlines planning to launch the Vietnam route in the next 18 months include Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways, Air Hong Kong, Jeju Air of South Korea, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Air China, Silk Air of Singapore, and Finnair of Finland.

Press reports also noted that America’s United Airlines and Japan’s All Nippon Airways are among those eyeing Vietnamese cities.

Asked about the possible competition from other airlines in the Asian markets, Antinori said among Emirates’ strategic steps is to “stay one step ahead of others”.