Jetstar Group general manager Bruce Buchanan said half the passengers flying from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City on yesterday’s inaugural flight decided to stop in Darwin.“That’s going to have a huge impact in terms of tourism,” he said.“Every time people take a one, two, three-day break in Darwin, they get a taste of the destination and it encourages them to come back.“We’re confident we can turn Darwin into a destination hub.”The international hub connects Darwin to Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City – in addition to the domestic routes to Melbourne, Cairns, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney.The budget airline will have the capacity to fly within a five-hour radius of Darwin, which includes Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong and parts of Malaysia and Indonesia.The Territory Government spent $8 million enticing Jetstar to set up its international hub in Darwin, which will base seven planes in the Territory by 2012.Tourism Minister Kon Vatskalis said the Government had learned from “previous experiences” with budget carriers by including a “clawback clause” requiring Jetstar to repay the money if it does not deliver the international hub.The Territory Government gave $2.2 million to a joint marketing campaign with Tiger Airways from 2005 – until the airline pulled out of the NT last month, citing “uneconomical costs” of operating out of Darwin.