Connecting "flights" Vinh - Da Nang
(Baonghean) - With the aim of contributing to promoting economic - political - cultural exchanges, serving the travel needs of communities between the South Central - Central Highlands region and the North Central region, Vietnam Airlines (VN) officially reopened the Vinh - Da Nang flight route from the beginning of the 2012 Winter Flight Schedule (from October 28, 2012). Together with 2 other domestic routes currently operating to/from Vinh, the Vinh - Da Nang flight route will contribute to completing Vietnam's domestic flight network, contributing to making Vinh a center in the North Central region, a connection point with key markets in the North - Central - South.
Vinh Airport has opened a new flight route: Vinh-Da Nang - Buon Ma Thuot, from October 28, 2012.
Previously, the Vinh - Da Nang route was operated by Vietnam during the period 1996-2002 with the initial goal of serving passengers from Ho Chi Minh City connecting to/from Vinh via Da Nang. However, after opening the direct Vinh - Ho Chi Minh City route, the number of passengers on the Vinh - Da Nang route decreased, so Vietnam was forced to stop operating it from October 2002.
After 10 years of development, Nghe An province and Da Nang city have achieved remarkable achievements in economy - investment - trade - tourism, social life has gradually improved. In addition, the relationship between the North Central region and the South Central - Central Highlands region is increasingly developing because a large number of people from the North Central region are living and building their economy in the South Central - Central Highlands region. Therefore, the reopening of the Vinh - Da Nang route, in which good connecting products are built with the Central Highlands via the Da Nang transit point, not only meets the travel needs of people in Nghe An province and Da Nang city in particular, but also serves the source of customers between the North Central region and the Central Highlands in general.
In fact, the current passenger traffic between Vinh and Da Nang is quite large and has great potential for opening a direct flight. Because there is no direct flight, most of the passengers have to travel by road or rail, taking about 8-10 hours. Reopening the Vinh - Da Nang direct flight will create a clear advantage in terms of time, taking only about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Through research on the market potential, the main source of passengers on the Vinh - Da Nang route is identified as visitors (mainly people from Nghe An living and studying in Da Nang) - accounting for 55%; followed by tourists accounting for 20%; the remaining are a small number of business and business passengers and additional passengers connecting to/from the Central Highlands. This group of passengers is expected to grow well and gradually increase in proportion in the following years, when the economy and the exchange relationship between the two regions increasingly develop. It is expected that the market capacity of this route will reach about 23-24 thousand passengers in the first year of operation and will grow well at 20-25%/year in the next 3 years.
With the above forecast passenger capacity and short flight range (under 500km), VN will operate 4 flights/week using ATR72 aircraft in the initial operation phase on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays on the Vinh - Da Nang - Buon Ma Thuot route, aiming to build a connecting product between Vinh - Central Highlands. In the following years, VN plans to increase the frequency to 5-7 flights/week to perfect the product and better meet market demand. Flight times are designed around late morning - noon. Departure time from Da Nang will be 9:30 am, convenient for passengers from the Central - Central Highlands region who want to go to Vinh via Da Nang and arrival time in Vinh will be at noon, convenient for passengers from Vinh to continue by road to other North Central provinces such as Thanh Hoa, Ninh Binh...
With the reopening of the Vinh - Da Nang route, Vietnam has increased the total number of domestic routes in operation to 38 to 20 destinations, connecting regions across the country, continuing to affirm the leading position of the national airline in the context of increasing domestic aviation competition.
For Nghe An province, Vietnam Airlines' operation of the Vinh - Da Nang route will be a connecting point for the Vinh - Da Nang - Buon Ma Thuot route, in order to meet the increasing travel demand between localities, contributing to promoting the economic development of Nghe An in particular and the country in general. This will be a modern traffic bridge, best serving the needs of connecting trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchange of the people of Nghe An and Dak Lak in particular and the entire South Central and Central Highlands regions in general with Da Nang - one of the economic centers of the country. Nghe An province expects the efficiency of this route. Along with that, Vietnam Airlines is interested in planning to open international routes at Vinh Airport such as Vinh - Vientiane, Vinh - Singapore ... creating favorable conditions to attract foreign investors to Nghe An, develop the province's socio-economy and promote the image of Nghe An to international friends.
PV