Vietnam sees 5-fold rise in foreign air passengers
The number of foreigners passing through Vietnam's 22 airports quintupled in the first half of the year to 14.4 million amid signs of recovery by the aviation industry.
15:18 29/06/2023
Passengers at a check-in counter at Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC, January 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran
The number of foreigners passing through Vietnam's 22 airports quintupled in the first half of the year to 14.4 million amid signs of recovery by the aviation industry.
The lifting of Covid travel restrictions in major markets such as South Korea, Taiwan and Japan is helping foster a recovery in international aviation.
There were a total of 56.8 million air passengers in Vietnam in the January-June period, a 29% year-on-year increase, according to the Airport Corporation of Vietnam.
With tourism gradually picking up steam, Vietnamese airlines have been scrambling to launch direct flights to major markets such as South Korea, Japan, India, and Australia.
In 2019, the year before Covid, Vietnamese airports handled a record 119 million passengers, including 41.7 million foreigners.
Vietnam welcomes over 5.5 million international visitors in six months
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism on Wednesday announced that the country welcomed over 5.57 million foreign tourists in the first six months of 2023.
