Int'l air passengers to Vietnam surge in first quarter

By Doan Loan March 25, 2022 | 12:22 am PT

Passengers get off a plane arriving at the Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC from Cambodia, January 1, 2022. Photo courtesy of Vietnam Airlines

The number of international passengers passing through Vietnamese airports in the first quarter surged 176 percent year-on-year to 321,000 in the first quarter.

As of March 25, 23 domestic and foreign carriers have resumed 67 routes connecting Vietnam and 20 countries and territories, according the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV).

Flights between Vietnam and Japan were the most crowded during the quarter with airlines transporting 10,300 passengers, CAAV stated.

Vietnam resumed international commercial flights after nearly two years of suspension in January and lifted all restrictions on international flights on Feb. 15.

The country has so far resumed international flights to 20 destinations: Bangkok, Doha, Dubai, Guangzhou, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, London, Manila, Moscow, Paris, Phnom Penh, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo, and Vientiane.

Before the pandemic, Vietnam had operated flights to 28 destinations.

Eight have yet to agree to flight resumption: Brunei, Finland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Macau, Myanmar, and Switzerland.