Van Don airport welcomes first international flight

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At 1:30 am on May 27, 140 international passengers arrived in Van Don International Airport by flight DZ62249 of Donghai Airlines which departed from Bao’an airport in China’s Shenzhen city on May 26.

Speaking at the welcoming ceremony, Director of Van Don International Airport Pham Ngoc Sau said that the airport will create the best conditions for the operation of Donghai Airlines, and exert all-out efforts to promote Quang Ninh’s tourist attractions.

He also said the launch of the Van Don-Shenzhen air route marked the first step in the airport’s strategy to approach the international market. In June, Van Don will see the open of more international routes such as the Van Don-Taiwan route operated by Bamboo Airways and the Van Don-Incheon (the Republic of Korea) route by Vietnam Airlines.

For the Chinese market, there will be air routes connecting Van Don with Hainan, Nanning, and Guangzhou in the time to come, he added.

The Van Don International Airport was officially put into operation in December 2018. Since the beginning of this year, the airport has served 664 flights with over 90,000 passengers on board.

The presence of the airport is expected to help Quang Ninh achieve its target of welcoming 15-16 million tourists, including 7 million foreigners, by 2020 and 30 million arrivals, including 15 million foreigners, by 2030.

Construction on Van Don International Airport started in 2015 on 288 ha in Doan Ket commune, Van Don district. It is the first airport in Vietnam to operate under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model.

The airport is expected to have an annual capacity of 2-2.5 million passengers by 2020, which will increase to 5 million by 2030.