Vietnam’s central beach city, Da Nang, welcomed its first two direct flights with foreign tourists on Sunday for nearly two years, as the government decided to completely revive international tourism.
In particular, a Singapore Airlines flight departing from Singapore with 160 passengers on board landed at Da Nang International Airport at 11:05 a.m., marking the resumption of direct flights between Singapore and Da Nang, the VGP reported.
###: Vietnam to resume regular international flights to and from 20 countries
Singapore’s flag carrier now operates one flight per day on the air route.
Vietnam and Singapore reached a bilateral agreement last month for mutual recognition of their COVID-19 vaccine passports on the occasion of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to Singapore.
As of March 16, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has decided to launch Vaccinated Travel Itineraries (VTLs) for tourists from Vietnam. With the launch of the VTL from Vietnam, Singapore is restoring quarantine-free two-way travel with Vietnam, which has been a popular destination for many Singaporeans.
Also Read:Singapore launches two-way quarantine-free travel with Vietnam
Foreign tourists arrive in Da Nang. Photo: danangfantasticity.com
Meanwhile, Thai Vietjet’s other flight with 150 passengers from Bangkok arrived at 12:30 pm in the central tourist center
Thai Vietjet, a sister company of Vietnamese airline VietJet Air, now operates three flights a week, every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
In 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak, Da Nang Airport received more than 98,000 flights, hosting more than 7.1 million international visitors and 8.4 million domestic travelers.
Da Nang is hosting a hot air balloon festival as part of an event to celebrate the resumption of international tourism activities. Photo: danangfantasticity.com
Tran Phuoc Son, deputy chairman of Da Nang’s Municipal People’s Committee, said the central city recorded an average 22 percent growth in international tourism. The city planned to resume all air routes to pre-pandemic levels, Tran added.
Also read: It’s official: Vietnam’s visa waiver program for foreigners will last three years from today
Vietnam has closed its borders to international tourists from March 22, 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the rapid and drastic implementation of the vaccination strategy, the government has decided to move from zero COVID to safe and effective adaptation to the pandemic from October last year.
The government has decided to review international tourism as part of its efforts to boost the recovery after the pandemic from March 2022, according to the report. VGP†
