Cebu Pacific Air launches Manila-Danang direct flight

Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific Air of the Philippines has launched a direct flight between Manila and popular beach destination Danang in central Vietnam.

The inaugural flight on the route, carrying 177 passengers from Manila, landed at Danang International Airport at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The airline said it will operate three flights a week on the route – Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays – using A320NEO aircraft.

The flight will depart Manila at 7:25 p.m.(Philippine time) and arrive at Danang at 9:30 p.m. (Vietnam time).

Meanwhile, the return flight from Danang to Manila will operate from 10:30 p.m. (Vietnam time) to 2:25 a.m (Philippine time). Each flight between the two cities last around three hours.

Danang Vice Chairman Tran Chi Cuong said that Philippines was one of the central city’s potential markets in the coming time as it looked to diversify and reduce excessive dependence on traditional markets like China and South Korea.

Vietnam welcomed over 137,000 tourists from the Philippines in the first 11 months of this year, up three times from the previous year.

Manila, the capital of the Philippines, is a densely populated metropolis mixing the ultra-modern with 16th-century colonial history; while Danang, home to architectural and natural landmarks like the Golden Bridge and Marble Mountains is one of Vietnam’s top tourist destinations. The Marble Mountains is a cluster of five marble and limestone hills with pagodas on top and hidden caves with Buddhist shrines.

Several carriers have recently opened new routes to Danang, looking to tap growing travel demand during the year-end tourism season.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines last week launched a direct route from Danang to Thailand’s Bangkok, calling it an “important milestone in the history of aviation cooperation between the two countries.”

In July, the carrier resumed two direct flights connecting Danang with Guangzhou and Hong Kong after a long suspension caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vietnam Airlines has also reopened its Tokyo-Danang route while

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s China Airlines has started direct flights from Taipei to Danang.

Danang has received over 1.6 million foreign arrivals so far this year, up 5.8 times year-on-year.

U.S. magazine Condé Nast Traveler last month named the coastal city among 11 best places to visit in 2024, based on readers’ votes.

The city recently topped a list of 10 trending destinations for Indian travelers, with the largest recent year-on-year increase in searches on Skyscanner, one of the world's largest flight travel search platforms.

Vietnam recorded 11.2 million foreign arrivals in the first 11 months of the year and is striving to reach a target of around 13 million by the year-end, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.