Low-cost Malaysian airline Air Asia has submitted an application to open direct flights to Vietnam, according to the Vietnam Civil Aviation Administration.

If the application is approved, license-granting procedures will be completed within 30 days. However, it is difficult for Air Asia to get permission to open direct flights from Malaysia to HCM City as the air route is overloaded.

The department said Air Asia will easily get licensed if the airline wants to open air routes to Hanoi and other destinations in Vietnam.

Currently, there are three low-cost airlines in Vietnam namely Singapore’s Tiger Airways, Thailand’s Air Asia and Indonesia’s Garuda.