Quy Nhon welcomes first int’l flight amid tourist boom

The Bamboo Airways flight carried 144 South Koreans from Cheongju International Airport to Phu Cat Airport, built in 1967 during the Vietnam War with a designed capacity of 1.5 million passengers.

Bamboo Airways stated it will operate eight direct flights between Binh Dinh and Cheongju in January.

Ho Quoc Dung, Chairman of Binh Dinh, said operation of the international route opens up more opportunities for the province to connect with the world, thus luring more foreign tourists and investors to the south central province.

T2 terminal of Phu Cat Airport is capable of receiving 600,000 international passengers a year.

The direct route between Phu Cat and Cheongju airports is the fourth between Vietnam and South Korea run by Bamboo Airways, one of six Vietnamese carriers. Others include from Hanoi, Da Nang and Cam Ranh to Incheon and vice versa.

A plane of Bamboo Airways at Phu Cat Airport. Photo by Shutterstock.

Binh Dinh, home to beach town Quy Nhon, a rising star on Vietnam’s tourism map, saw four million arrivals last year, up 19.8 percent from 2018. 

Quy Nhon, the provincial capital, is popular for its long, broad sandy beaches that have earned it the nickname "Vietnam’s Maldives."

The town is nestled between busy coastal hotspots Nha Trang and Hoi An. Most locals are fishermen who head out to sea or swing along the coast in coracles to earn a living.

Quy Nhon has become one of the most searched beach holiday destinations. Photo by Nguyen Tien Trinh.