Vietnam PM promises to consider direct flights to Saudi Arabia

By Hoang Phong October 18, 2023 | 08:11 pm PT

A Saudi man checks the flight timings at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 16, 2021. Photo by Reuters/Ahmed Yosri

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has agreed to consider starting direct flights between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia to boost tourism and economic ties.

The proposal had been put to him by Shehim Kottilingal, director of LuLu Group International, which operates a chain of hypermarkets and retail companies, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday.

Chinh has led Vietnamese delegation to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - Gulf Cooperation Council (ASEAN - GCC) Summit and for a bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia.

Currently there are no direct flights between the two countries, and it takes 11 to 33 hours to fly from Hanoi or HCMC to Riyadh.

The number of Saudi Arabians visiting Vietnam remains modest at only around 2,000 a year, most of them business visitors.

In 2019 only 600 Saudi tourists visited Vietnam, a small number considering more than 10 million travel abroad each year, according to Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.