Experts from South Korea disembark a flight which landed at Vân Đồn Airport last week. — VNA/VNS Photo

QUẢNG NINH — Commercial flights at the Quảng Ninh Province-based Vân Đồn International Airport will resume starting from May 4, after an unexpected hiatus due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Daily flights on the Vân Đồn-HCM City route will be offered by budget carrier Vietjet, while four weekly flights on the route will be provided by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines from May 16 and Bamboo Airways is to operate daily flight on the route from June 1.

Vietnam Airlines will also operate three flights linking Vân Đồn and Đà Nẵng per week from May 16.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the airport has been one of the few in the country to receive 36 flights from pandemic-hit areas with nearly 5,600 passengers.

Vân Đồn Airport Director Phạm Ngọc Sáu said the airport will co-ordinate closely with Quảng Ninh authorities in implementing tourism promotion campaigns and flight expansion so that the airport can become an important gateway to connect and speed up socio-economic development of the province, the northeast region and the whole country.

The airport is striving to add flights connecting Vân Đồn with Phú Quốc and Nha Trang in the third quarter this year while expecting to receive charter flights to Vân Đồn from China and South Korea from this year’s third quarter right after these countries allow international air services.

Adding international flights is expected to contribute to the plan to attract tourists to Quảng Ninh, with the province targeting 15 to 16 million visitors – including seven million foreign visitors – by 2020. 

The airport has a capacity of receiving 2.5 million passengers per year and is expected to expand to a capacity of welcoming five million passengers per year by 2030. — VNS