The central city welcomed 150 tourists from Vientiane, Laos on the first direct flight after a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The arrival signifies a promising growth in tourism, investment and trade between Laos, northeast of Thailand and central Viet Nam.

The airline began its schedule with two flights per week on Thursday and Sunday before increasing to daily flights in the future.

The group of Lao tourists will visit destinations in Da Nang and the UNESCO-recognised world heritage sites in Hoi An, My Son Sanctuary and Thua Thien-Hue Province.

It’s the third city that Laos Airlines has resumed its post-pandemic flights to after HCM City and Ha Noi.

Laos Airlines said it would help connect and attract more visitors from Korea and China to Viet Nam through the Vientinane-Da Nang air route.

Da Nang City's tourism department said the reopening of the flight would help boost tourism among world heritage sites in central Viet Nam and destinations in Vientiane, Luang Prabang, northeast of Thailand in tourism links built between Laos and Viet Nam.

The department said Laos was an important destination in the top-ten tourism market in 2022 with 10,000 tourists visiting making up 2.1 per cent of all international visitors to Da Nang.

Da Nang was a key hub in central Viet Nam that help connect Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Viet Nam through the East-West Economic Corridor in promoting tourism, trade, international logistics in the region. — VNS