China Southern Airlines, Sichuan Airlines plot routes to Vietnam’s Quang Ninh province

China Southern Airlines and Sichuan Airlines said Wednesday that they were planning to launch flights to Van Don International Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

Representatives of the two Chinese carriers mentioned their plans during a meeting with Quang Ninh authorities, citing the motivation of province’s rapid infrastructure development and tourism focus.

China Southern Airlines said it was planning air routes from Shantou city in Guangdong province, while Sichuan Airlines was preparing to launch flights from Chengdu city in Sichuan province.

Quang Ninh Chairman Cao Tuong Huy supported the carriers’ plans, saying the province was striving to develop tourism as a key economic sector, focusing in particular on golf tourism and cultural tourism. It was also looking to attract investments into tourism services, he said.

China is among the most important tourism markets for Quang Ninh province and the launch of direct air routes can also bring more investors to the province, Huy added.

Vietnam’s aviation market is set to continue recoverying and exceed its pre-pandemic 2019 performance in 2024, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV). The domestic aviation sector expects to carry 84.2 million passengers – 41.5 million domestic and 42.7 million international – this year, up 15% from 2023 and 6% from 2019.

Japan and Korea are both traditionally big investors in Vietnam, but China has been expanding its foreign direct investment (FDI) footprint quickly, according to HSBC’s January edition of the “Vietnam at a glance” report.

2023 marked the first time that China had the largest share among investors, beating its two neighbours to account for almost half of Vietnam’s new FDI inflows, the report said..

“The lion’s share went to electronics, a sector that Vietnam is fast becoming a rising star in. This is also an area where FDI inflows are more diversified, a reflection of Vietnam’s increasing significance in the global tech supply chain,” the report noted.

Vietnam aims to lure 18 million foreign tourists in 2024, up from 12.6 million in 2023, the HSBC report said. “This means more effort is needed to attract Chinese tourists, who were once the largest source with a 30% share.”