Saudi Airlines Cargo will operate three flights per week between Saudi Arabia and Ho Chi Minh City. It will use Cargo MD11 aircraft with a capacity of 80 tons for the route.

The approval made Saudi Airlines Cargo the second Middle East carrier flying to Vietnam. Qatar Airways is now running 11 flights per week between Vietnam and Doha.

Vietnam’s aviation market has experienced double-digit growth for the past few years. Air freight cargo in the country rose 30 percent last year to 460,000 tons.

Cargo carriers to and from Vietnam handled 113,000 tons of goods in the first quarter, up 11 percent from the same period last year.

The International Air Transport Association said in February that Vietnam will be one of the top three fastest growing international freight markets by 2014, together with Hong Kong and China.