Budget airline Vietjet Air officially resumed its Incheon-Da Nang flight, carrying 220 passengers to the central city on Friday, officially restarting tourism links between Da Nang and South Korea after two years of COVID-19 deadlock.

Vietjet said it would operate the air route with six flights per week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Da Nang, and from Incheon on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Vice-chairman of the city’s tourism department, Nguyen Xuan Binh, said South Korea was one of the top tourism markets of Da Nang, so the resumed flights would be given priorities policies from the city.

He said Vietjet was the first airline from Viet Nam to kick-start the air route between Da Nang and Incheon in 2022.

Da Nang, Quang Nam and Vietjet jointly held a tour survey programme in the central region for 15 representatives of South Korean travel agencies on the occasion of restarting the flight.

A night performance staged on the Han River banks in Da Nang. The city hosted a series of arts and musical performances to welcome tourists returning to Da Nang. — Photo courtesy of Da Nang tourism department

The department also said other airlines from South Korea, including Jeju Air and Jin Air, had scheduled flights for Incheon-Da Nang between April and July, while the Deagu (South Korea)-Da Nang flight had been planned from May 21 to June 16.

Earlier, Da Nang hosted direct flights from Singapore and Bangkok.

Nine major airlines had agreed to operate their regular flights on 10 air routes from Da Nang to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and India.

Da Nang tourism promotion agency and HanaTour company also together promote tours to the South Korean market through social networks and digital platforms.

South Korea is a promising market for Da Nang as Korean tourists make up the second-largest number of foreign tourist arrivals to the city before COVID-19 damaged the tourism hub in 2020-21.

Da Nang hopes to host 3.5 million tourists in 2022. — VNS