Van Don airport receives first int’l flight

The charter flight was operated on a 162-seat Boeing 737-800 owned by Donghai Airlines. The flight will run on Mondays and Fridays, departing from Shengzhen Bao’an International Airport at 11:05 p.m. and landing at Van Don airport at 1:30 a.m.

According to a representative of Van Don airport, more charter flights departing from Nanning in China, Incheon in South Korea and Taiwan are expected to land at the local airport next month. Also, two more air routes linking the airport with destinations in Thailand and Japan will be launched in October and December this year.

Aside from new international routes, many domestic routes connecting the airport with local destinations in Danang, Phu Quoc and Nha Trang are slated for launch in the third quarter.

Almost five months since the airport was put into service, three local carriers — national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, low-cost airline Vietjet and the newest carrier Bamboo Airways — started operating at the airport with two daily flights each, alongside one international carrier, Donghai Airlines, which currently operates charter flights on the Van Don-Shenzhen route.

To date, 550 flights have transported nearly 70,000 passengers through Van Don airport, with a seat occupancy rate exceeding 70% per flight.