Jeju Air to resume flights from Incheon to Hanoi, HCMC as tourism picks up

By Hoang Phong February 9, 2023 | 05:00 pm PT

Pink trumpet flowers bloom on a street in HCMC, February 2023. Photo by Huynh Phuoc Sang

South Korea's low-cost carrier Jeju Air will resume air services from Incheon to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from April 20 after three years of suspension due to Covid.

The resumption comes at a time when South Koreans topped the list of foreign arrivals to Vietnam after the Southeast Asian country reopened its borders in March last year.

In 2022, Vietnam received 965,000 South Korean tourists, around 30% of pre-pandemic levels.

Jeju Air operated eight routes to five Vietnamese cities including Da Nang, Hanoi, HCMC, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc before the pandemic. Most of the routes were suspended in early 2020 as Covid broke out.

Last year, the carrier resumed some of these air routes, including those connecting Incheon to the popular tourist beach cities Da Nang and Nha Trang, and the Busan-Da Nang route.

Jeju Air also plans to restore flights between Incheon and Vientiane, Laos, from April 20.

The airline is hoping to make a turn around this year after posting net losses for three consecutive years.