Representatives of 71 airlines and 820 participants have registered to join the 16th annual Routes Asia Development Forum 2022 on June 4-9, according to Thomas Atkinson of Informa Routes, the event organiser.

He said the forum would mark the restart of air services and tourism after closure due to the pandemic, and Da Nang was selected as the event host for its logistics, conference venue and tourism experiences.

The annual event will offer airlines, airports and tourism authorities a platform to boost cooperative relationships, set up new routes and expand aviation networks, driving international tourism and aviation activities while connecting Da Nang with regional and global air transport networks.

Hot air balloons decorate the sky of Da Nang to mark the re-opening of the city’s tourism. VNS Photo Le Lam

In the past decades, aviation and tourism have been two key industries helping boost Da Nang’s economic growth.

The expansion of international air routes will create a driving force to help the city recover from the pandemic, said the director of the city’s tourism department Truong Thi Hong Hanh.

A series of exhibitions and conferences on air service and airport facilities will be organised at the six-day forum with 110 airlines and 200 airports from Asia, Europe, North America, the Middle East and Viet Nam.

A workshop will be hosted at the event, and around 1,000 business matching events will also go ahead, said the deputy head of the forum organising committee, Nguyen Xuan Binh.

Binh, who is vice director of Da Nang’s tourism department, also said Da Nang wanted to send a positive message to world travellers, calling tourists to the central coastal hub for an extended vacation on pristine beachfront resorts.

Phillip Nguyen, general director of Duy Anh-IPP Travel Retail company, the forum co-host, said the Lotte free-duty zone would open in May in offering a shopping experience for forum participants.

He said the city would promote different events and take part in the World Routes Forum in Las Vegas in October.

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

In 2019, Da Nang opened its first direct flights with Doha, Qatar, and 160 destinations of Qatar Airways, with new flights connecting with Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, India, Australia, and Russia have been planned.

Da Nang was booming with 48 international air routes with 462 flights per week, while 11 domestic routes operated with 665 flights per week before COVID-19 disrupted or suspended most travel routes.

A demonstration of Da Nang cuisine. The city has lured travellers with its traditional culture, fresh seafood and hospitality. Photo courtesy of Da Nang tourism promotion centre

In early 2022, nine airlines officially resumed regular flights on 10 air routes connecting the central city of Da Nang with Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Japan and India between March and September.

Singapore Airlines and Thai VietJet were the two first airlines carrying 300 international passengers to Da Nang safety on March 27.

More than 4,000 participants had visited Da Nang for MICE events between December 2021 and March 2022.

Da Nang International Airport is designed to handle 28 million passengers and 200,000 tonnes of cargo by 2030. — VNS