Open the sky with force

In just the past month, up to 7 flight routes from many localities in Vietnam connecting to major tourist "hubs" in the world have been officially opened. The continuous opening of new international flight routes not only contributes to enhancing Vietnam's position on the world aviation map but also effectively supports the acceleration of tourism.

Rush to open direct flights connecting tourist "capitals"

At 9:30 a.m. on July 3, flight VN337 operated by Vietnam Airlines departed from Osaka Airport and landed at Da Nang International Airport at 12:25 p.m. the same day, marking the opening of the first direct flight connecting Da Nang City, Vietnam, with Osaka City, Japan. With a flexible flight schedule and convenient connectivity, Vietnam Airlines hopes that the new route will effectively serve the needs of travel, tourism, visiting relatives and trading between the two regions, especially the community of more than 50,447 Vietnamese people living in Osaka - one of the provinces with a large Vietnamese population in Japan.

Charter flights bringing Russian tourists back to Khanh Hoa help the tourism industry grow strongly.

PHOTO: BA DUY

Mr. Dang Anh Tuan, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Airlines, said: Since the first flight route from Ho Chi Minh City to Osaka in 1994, the airline's Vietnam - Japan flight network has increased to 10 with an average of over 120 flights per week from Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City to Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka. After 30 years, Vietnam Airlines has operated more than 100,000 flights between the two countries, transporting nearly

16 million passengers. The Northeast Asian market, especially Japan, is still one of the most important international markets for Vietnam aviation with an average growth of 20% per year. Exploiting the Da Nang - Osaka route creates great potential for tourism and trade between the two cities, and marks Vietnam Airlines' efforts in its strategy of expanding its flight network in the North Asian region. This is not only an opportunity for the airline to connect more deeply with the world, but also demonstrates a strong commitment to bringing the image of Vietnam closer to international friends.

The Da Nang - Osaka route is the third route connecting countries in the Asian region that the national airline has just launched in the past month. Previously, the airline simultaneously launched two routes Nha Trang - Busan (South Korea) and Ho Chi Minh City - Bali (Indonesia) on June 1, meeting the need for direct connections between tourist destinations with increasing travel demand. For the European market, the direct route between Hanoi - Milan launched on July 1, marking the establishment of the first direct route between Vietnam and Italy. The important gateway to the Southwest Europe region plays a role as a strategic gateway in Vietnam Airlines' flight network, helping passengers conveniently access destinations across Europe. With the launch of the direct route to Italy, Vietnam Airlines' total direct routes to Europe have been increased to 9, in addition to the airline's direct routes from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City to Paris (France), Frankfurt, Munich (Germany), London (UK) and Moscow (Russia).

The first passengers on the flight connecting Da Nang - Osaka that Vietnam Airlines just launched on July 3

PHOTO: VNA

It is expected that this year, Vietnam Airlines will open a total of 15 new international routes to destinations such as Russia, Italy, Denmark, China, India, Japan, South Korea, UAE...

Similarly, expanding the international flight network is also a mission set by Vietjet in 2025. At the beginning of the year, Vietjet marked an important milestone in its development journey by operating the first flight from Vietnam to the US. Since then, Vietjet has continuously opened many routes connecting Vietnam with top destinations in Australia, the billion-population countries of India, China and is planning to go further to Europe in the near future. The routes not only depart from the two gateways of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi but also focus on direct flights to attractive tourist destinations in Vietnam such as Nha Trang, Da Nang, Phu Quoc...

At the annual general meeting of shareholders at the end of May, Vietjet Chairman Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao affirmed Vietjet's mission is to continuously expand its international flight network, enhance its presence in the region and globally, and pioneer in connecting new destinations, opening up development opportunities for trade, tourism and investment.

Wherever the sky opens, tourism develops.

Looking at the 2024 business results of Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet, it can be seen that international routes are the "golden goose" that helps airlines make an impressive comeback after the post-Covid-19 crisis. In 2024, Vietjet achieved more than VND 1,426 billion in profit after tax, an increase of 516% compared to 2023 thanks to the strategy of promoting the expansion of the international flight network in addition to maintaining a stable domestic flight network. During the year, Vietjet operated a total of 145 routes, including 44 domestic routes and 101 international routes. Meanwhile, Vietnam Airlines announced brilliant first-quarter business results when it achieved a record revenue of nearly VND 31,107 billion, with consolidated pre-tax profit in the first 3 months estimated at nearly VND 3,625 billion. In 2024, Vietnam Airlines also recorded the highest after-tax profit in history - reaching VND 7,958 billion. Vietnam Airlines representative said that the recent positive business results were thanks to the strong recovery of the market, especially the international market.

On the other hand, direct flights are also a bridge to promote strong tourism development. For example, after increasing the new flight route between Munich - Vietnam, the exploitation results of the Germany - Vietnam route have clearly grown. The passenger growth rate on the Hanoi - Munich route has improved week by week, month by month and has now reached a seat utilization coefficient as well as exploitation efficiency equivalent to the Frankfurt - Vietnam route.

Or with the flow of Russian tourists, after nearly 3 years of suspension, charter flights connecting 11 Russian cities with Nha Trang have been officially re-operated since the beginning of the year, creating a strong boost for Nha Trang tourism in the first half of the year. In the first quarter alone, Khanh Hoa tourism industry welcomed about 49,100 Russian tourists, an increase of 110.74% over the same period in 2024. In May, Khanh Hoa had 16 charter flights and 3 commercial flights/week bringing Russian tourists to Cam Ranh airport. Khanh Hoa Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism affirmed that the increase in direct flights in recent times has promoted a strong recovery of the Russian tourist market. In the coming time, the number of Russian tourists to Khanh Hoa will increase sharply; it is expected that the number of flights bringing Russian tourists to Khanh Hoa from July to the end of the year will increase to 90-100 flights/month.

Meanwhile, a recent announcement by Mastercard on tourism trends in 2025 shows that Phu Quoc is a destination of particular interest in Asia. The growth in the number of Asian visitors to Phu Quoc by air has reached over 200% in 2024 compared to 2019, proportional to the speed of opening new routes as well as increasing the frequency of direct flights bringing international visitors to Vietnam's pearl island.

Faced with the forecasted boom in tourism demand in the coming period, the Civil Aviation Authority requires Vietnamese airlines in 2025 to continue expanding and developing international air transport operations; especially promoting international operations to local airports with tourist destinations such as Da Nang, Nha Trang, Hue, Phu Quoc, Van Don, Cat Bi, Da Lat, etc. to promote domestic air transport operations, ensuring good response to passenger travel needs.

Vietnam leads Asia in international tourism growth

According to the World Tourism Barometer (May issue) of the United Nations Tourism Organization (UN Tourism), in the first quarter, Vietnam led the Asia-Pacific region in growth in international arrivals (up 30% compared to the first quarter of 2024) and ranked 2nd in recovery in international arrivals (up 34% compared to the first quarter of 2019). Globally, in the first 3 months of 2025, Vietnam ranked 6th in growth in international tourist arrivals (up 30% compared to the first quarter of 2024) and ranked 4th in growth in total tourism revenue (up 29% compared to the same period in 2024).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/manh-me-mo-cua-bau-troi-185250704204631246.htm