First commercial seaplane flight to Co To island conducted

The flight, with eight tourists on board departed Tuan Chau port in the province’s Ha Long city at 8:30am and safely arrived on Hong Van beach of Co To about 35 minutes later.

Using the seaplane service, provided by the Hai Au Aviation JSC of the Thien Minh Group, passengers can save much travel time and have a chance to enjoy a bird’s eye view of the majestic beauty of destinations on Ha Long Bay such as Ban Sen, Ngoc Vung, Quan Lan, Minh Chau, and Bai Tu Long, with introduction directly presented by crew members on board.

The commercial flights use Cessna Grand Caravan 208B EX, a modern seaplane model of the US that can fly at about 300km per hour and carry up to 12 passengers. However, each trip carries only six to eight passengers to ensure their safety and comfort.

The company is offering a 20% discount to all passengers booking tickets and having round-trip flights between Tuan Chau and Co To this July. The price ticket now is 2.4 million VND (about US$100) per way each passenger.

Seaplane services have yet to be popular in Vietnam. The launch of the service in the island district of Co To is expected to help diversify tourism services and promote local tourism.

Hai Au Aviation launched the first seaplane service for tourism in Tuan Chau in 2014, with one to three round-trip flights between Hanoi and Ha Long, and five to 10 sightseeing tours of Ha Long Bay every day.