Vietnamese carrier launches Nha Trang-Singapore flight

By Hoang Phong June 4, 2022 | 05:00 am PT

Passengers land at Cam Ranh Airport near Nha Trang on a flight from Singapore, June 3 2022. Photo courtesy of Vietnam Airlines

Vietnam Airlines has become the first Vietnamese carrier to operate a direct service connecting Nha Trang beach town in Khanh Hoa Province with Singapore as tourism picks up.

On Friday, the first flight carrying 160 passengers from Singapore landed at Cam Ranh International Airport, around 40 kilometers from Nha Trang, which is famous for long, sandy beaches and high-end resorts.

There would be two weekly return flights.

Nguyen Thi Le Thanh, director of the provincial tourism department, said the local travel industry, which is heavily dependent on Chinese tourists, has been looking for ways to diversify its markets since China is still pursuing a zero-Covid policy with strict travel restrictions.

Singapore is a potential tourism market, she said.

Khanh Hoa has welcomed over 31,000 foreign arrivals in the first five months of this year, up 75 percent year-on-year, according to the provincial tourism department.

In 2019, the year before the onset of Covid, Khanh Hoa received over seven million tourists, half of them foreigners.

Vietnam allowed free-quarantine entry and resumed its visa exemption policy for ASEAN countries including Singapore from March 15.

Singapore made a similar move, scrapping mandatory hotel quarantine for those arriving from Vietnam from March 16.