A night view of the Hàn River in Đà Nẵng. The central city will host the 16th annual Routes Asia Development Forum 2022 on June 6-8 of 2022. — VNS Photo Trần Lê Lâm

ĐÀ NẴNG — Đà Nẵng will host the 16th annual Routes Asia Development Forum 2022 on June 6-8 of 2022 as an announcement was made at the World Routes Development Forum – an aviation and tourism industry event – in Milan, Italy on Monday.

Deputy Director of the city’s tourism department Nguyễn Xuân Bình said the annual event, which will be co-organised by the Đà Nẵng People’s Committee, IPP Travel Retail, a subsidiary of Imex Pan Pacific Group (IPPG) and Informa Routes, will offer a platform for airlines, airports and tourism authorities to boost co-operative relationships, and set up new routes and expand aviation networks, driving international tourism and aviation activities while connecting Đà Nẵng with regional and global air transport networks.

Speaking at World Routes, Steven Small, Director of Routes, said: “We are very excited to be working with Đà Nẵng People’s Committee and their strategic partners to bring Routes Asia to the city in 2022. Routes Asia will play an integral part in Đà Nẵng's achieving its ambitious master plan to become the socio-economic centre of the country by 2045.”

Bình said Routes Asia 2022 is a great opportunity to promote the dynamic and hospitable nature of the city.

“The event would help promote more international air routes to Đà Nẵng in the coming years and facilitate the city’s economic and tourism industry recovery in the post-COVID-19 period,” Bình said.

“Đà Nẵng will strongly promote its position as Asia’s leading festival and event destination, a dynamic aviation hub for tourism development in Việt Nam and the region,” he said.

Bình also said Đà Nẵng has seen stable growth in socio-economic development with an aim of being an international event rendezvous and connection site of cities in the region and the world.

Nguyễn Phi Long, CEO of IPP Travel, a co-organiser of the Routes Asia 2022, said aviation and tourism are two key industries that have made a great contribution to Đà Nẵng’s economic growth, and the increasing flight routes will be the most important factor to help Đà Nẵng to kick-start the economic recovery plan after damage by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Routes Asia, which was hosted for the first time in 2003, is the only dedicated annual route development event for the Asia-Pacific region, gathering decision-makers of the global air transport industry.

The city has built its first direct flights with Doha, Qatar and 160 destinations of Qatar Airways, while new flights had been planned from Đà Nẵng International airport with Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan (China), India, Australia and Russia.

In 2020, authorities of Đà Nẵng Airport and Chubu Centrair Airport of Japan agreed for chartered flights between Đà Nẵng and Nagoya, Japan as preparation for launching a regular direct route.

Chiang Mai International Airport agreed to promote direct flights connecting destinations in Thailand and world heritage sites in central Việt Nam.

The Đà Nẵng International Airport is designed to handle 28 million passengers and 200,000 tonnes of cargo by 2030.

According to the city’s tourism department, Đà Nẵng had 48 international air routes with 462 flights per week, while 11 domestic routes operated with 665 flights in a week. — VNS