Vietnam sees 5-fold rise in foreign air passengers

The lifting of Covid travel restrictions in major markets such as South Korea, Taiwan and Japan is helping foster a recovery in international aviation.

There were a total of 56.8 million air passengers in Vietnam in the January-June period, a 29% year-on-year increase, according to the Airport Corporation of Vietnam.

With tourism gradually picking up steam, Vietnamese airlines have been scrambling to launch direct flights to major markets such as South Korea, Japan, India, and Australia.

In 2019, the year before Covid, Vietnamese airports handled a record 119 million passengers, including 41.7 million foreigners.