Vietjet CRK–Ho Chi Minh City: day after launch (11 November 2026)

Yesterday, 10 November 2026, Vietjet’s first Clark service actually got going — thrice-weekly CRK–Ho Chi Minh City on Tue / Thu / Sat. I wrote up the launch announcement earlier (Vietjet debuts at Clark); this is the short follow-up now that the first rotations are in.

Published schedule (unchanged)

VJ1871: CRK 17:05 → SGN 18:35
VJ1870: SGN 12:30 → CRK 16:05

Same pattern as in the launch post: late-afternoon outbound from Clark into a Ho Chi Minh City evening, lunchtime return back mid-afternoon. Block time is still about two and a half hours. Tracking for later this week (Thursday, Saturday, and next Tuesday) still shows those same times, so there is no published nudge after day one.

Both sectors operated and landed. Flightradar24 has them down as an Airbus A321, registration VN-A685 — a bit more capacity than the A320 that had been showing in some filings ahead of launch. Other public status pages also list the type as a 321, which is a useful confirmation.

On the clock, the sources are close enough to be useful and not identical to the minute, which is normal when you mix gate times and airborne tracking. Flightradar24 (times converted from UTC to local) shows VJ1870 leaving Ho Chi Minh City at 12:45 (published 12:30) and on the ground at Clark at 15:54, a few minutes ahead of the 16:05 arrival. VJ1871, the first departure out of Clark, shows 17:27 off CRK (published 17:05) and 18:55 into Tan Son Nhat (published 18:35). Other status pages put the outbound departure a little earlier and the arrival around 18:59, so the exact minutes are best treated as tracking data rather than an airline release. The useful bit: both legs ran, the inbound was essentially on time, and the first Clark departure was about twenty minutes late into Ho Chi Minh City. Nothing dramatic for a first day.

No day-of official release or load figures were published. Clark’s latest official piece is still the August launch announcement.

Practical notes if you are booking

The launch promo Eco fare from US$75 one-way (taxes in), Friday specials through 31 March 2027 with blackouts, was still the selling point in the Clark / LIPAD announcement. Confirm the live total on Vietjet’s site before you commit. Eco is still an LCC product — bags, seats and most food are usually extras. Launch routes sometimes nudge by a few minutes in the first weeks, even if this week’s times still look unchanged.

From Central and Northern Luzon this is still the useful bit: Ho Chi Minh City without the Manila detour, and then Vietjet’s domestic network onwards if you are not stopping in the city. Earlier Vietjet and Vietnam notes are linked from the debut post if you want cabin / hotel colour from previous trips.

Overall, a clean enough day one — both legs ran, the timings were usable, and an A321 turned up rather than the A320 some of the pre-launch filings had suggested.

Sources: Clark International Airport / LIPAD, Philippine News Agency, Flightradar24 VJ1870, Flightradar24 VJ1871 (10 November 2026; A321 VN-A685).