Travel boom opens new routes to Vietnamese destinations

By Nguyen Quy   March 4, 2019 | 11:24 pm PT
Travel boom opens new routes to Vietnamese destinations
Cai Beo floating village is a must-visit place on a tour of Lan Ha Bay, relatively unknown sister of the world-famous Ha Long Bay. Lan Ha Bay is located in the east of Cat Ba islands, Hai Phong City. Photo by Giang Son Dong
Domestic and international carriers are opening routes from new cities to Vietnamese destinations, capitalizing on rising demand.

Malaysian budget airline AirAsia recently announced plans to launch flights between Thailand’s Chiang Mai, a popular cultural and religious center around 700 kilometers (435 miles) to the north of Bangkok, and Da Nang City in central Vietnam.

The first daily flight is scheduled for April 12, and booking has opened.

The carrier also announced it would begin the Kuala Lumpur – Can Tho service on April 8 with four flights a week and the Bangkok – Can Tho service from May 2 with three.

Can Tho, the city dubbed the "western capital" of Vietnam, is famous for the iconic Cai Rang floating market, which attracts millions of visitors every year to enjoy local cuisines, buy fruits and other speciality products of the Mekong Delta.

National carrier Vietnam Airlines is set to fly from the world famous Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO heritage site in northern Quang Ninh Province, and Da Nang to Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville in Cambodia.

Ha Long Bay attracts tourists for the breathtaking landscape of limestone karst mountains popping up from turquoise waters. Photo by VnExpress/Meo Gia

Ha Long Bay attracts tourists for the breathtaking landscape of limestone karst mountains popping up from turquoise waters. Photo by VnExpress/Meo Gia

There will be four flights a week on the Danang-Siem Reap sector from April 2019 while the schedules for other routes are yet to be announced.

After launching its maiden flight on December 30, Bamboo Airways, Vietnam's fifth and latest airline, plans to launch new routes from Vietnam's big cities to Singapore in April and Japan and Korea in May.

Vietnam’s aviation industry is booming. There were 12.5 million air passengers last year, up 14.4 percent from 2017, according to the General Statistics Office.

Last year a record 15.4 million visitors came to the country, a whopping 20 percent increase from 2017.

A report published last year by the United Nations World Tourism Organization ranked Vietnam’s tourism growth the fourth fastest in the world.

 
 
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