Vietnam Airlines to recommence 5 China services as tourism recovers

They include three and two flights a week from Hanoi to Beijing and Chengdu, and daily flights from Da Nang to Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chengdu.

"The resumption of flights to China aims to meet travel demand as tourism is forecast to recover from March," the carrier said in a press release.

Vietnam could receive 3-4.5 million visitors from China this year, equivalent to 50-80% of pre-pandemic levels, according to HSBC.

In 2019, the year before the pandemic began, China was Vietnam’s biggest source of foreign visitors, sending 5.5 million of them.

After three years of sticking to its zero-Covid policy, China reopened its borders on January 8, but is only resuming tourism activities gradually.

The country on Monday resumed outbound tours to 20 selected countries, including seven in Southeast Asia but not Vietnam.