Good news on Vinh - Vientiane flight route

(Baonghean) - The first international flight at Vinh Airport from Vinh City to Vientiane (Laos) is proving to be effective as the number of passengers is full during the April 30 holiday. This is a good sign to continue to exploit the flight route well, increase the number of passengers...

During the April 30, 2015 holiday, the Vinh - Vientiane flight route had no more vacancies - a phenomenon that rarely happens on this international flight route. Before opening this route, relevant authorities and sectors conducted an investigation and thoroughly researched the travel needs of the people. The flight route not only serves passengers in Nghe An and Vientiane, Laos, but also meets the needs of provinces in the North Central region of Vietnam and the Northeast region of Thailand...

Considered a potential market, but in reality, this route has always been in a state of lack of passengers. In 2014, Vietnam Airlines provided 10,690 seats, but in reality there were only 5,080 passengers (48%). Due to too few passengers, 47 flights had to be canceled in 2014. In the first months of 2015, the situation of too many passengers continued to occur, so 9 flights had to be canceled. According to Vietnam Airlines' accounting, in 2014, it lost more than 748 thousand USD and if the number of passengers does not improve, it will continue to lose more than 1 million USD in 2015.

Vinh - Vientiane route is operated by Vietnam Airlines.

Vinh - Vientiane is the first international flight at Vinh Airport and is also an important flight after being approved by the Prime Minister to become an international airport. Mr. Tran Anh Son, General Director of Agricultural Export Joint Stock Company, said: "In order for the Vinh - Vientiane flight to be effective, along with increasing propaganda, advertising, trade promotion... in Laos, it is necessary to organize more tours, tourist routes and connect with the Northeastern provinces of Thailand. Having many products and suitable prices will attract many customers."

It can be seen that, in recent times, our province has paid great attention to tourism promotion associated with aviation and has promoted tourism promotion with the Vietnamese Consulate General in Khonken, the Overseas Vietnamese Association, the Vietnamese-Thai Business Association in Thailand and the Nghe An Tourism Promotion Conference combined with promoting and introducing the Vinh - Vientiane flight route in Udon - Thailand. And also tourism promotion activities connecting Nghe An with Ho Chi Minh City, Lam Dong, Da Nang...

Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said: Currently, the advertising board for Nghe An tourism and the Vinh - Vientiane flight route has only been installed at the Morning Market (Vientiane), but the area is not suitable and does not create an impression. Currently, many localities in Laos, the Northeast region of Thailand as well as some neighboring provinces of Nghe An do not have advertising boards for this international flight route. In fact, in the past time, in addition to the number of passengers in Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh, there were passengers in Ninh Binh who knew about this flight route and went to Vinh to fly to Vientiane (Laos). To attract passengers traveling by air on the Vinh - Vientiane route and vice versa, along with increasing promotion, Vietnam Airlines needs to have a suitable policy on ticket prices and should have the same price, giving priority to travel agencies. “Recently, travel agencies have transported 1,139 tourists on the Vinh - Vientiane flight route (mainly Vietnamese tourists). Compared to the number of tourists going to Laos by road, this is still a low percentage,” Mr. Cuong added.

In recent times, people and localities in Nghe An have supported the Vinh - Vientiane international flight route. The Department of Transport has had a policy of rewarding officers, employees with outstanding achievements and athletes with achievements in competitions and sports events of the industry to visit and learn from experiences in Laos, and at the same time, mobilized units to participate in supporting the flight route.

Mr. Hoang Phu Hien, Deputy Director of the Department of Transport, said: “Responding to the province's policy, the department has recently urged and mobilized 43 groups with a total of 1,031 people to use the Vinh - Vientiane flight route. Along with that, a number of sectors, agencies, and professional associations have also participated in supporting the flight route... In the coming time, the department will continue to mobilize and encourage departments, branches, districts, and businesses to organize groups to go on business trips, promote investment, and visit tourism in Laos and consider this as one of the ways to support the exploitation of the Vinh - Vientiane flight route”.

The demand for passengers traveling between Vietnam and Laos and the northeastern provinces of Thailand is very large, but for a long time, they have often traveled by road. To "attract" passengers to use the Vinh - Vientiane route, there needs to be synchronous coordination. In which, strengthening tourism connections by air between localities is a positive direction. At the same time, Vietnam Airlines also needs to be more proactive in coordinating with the tourism industry to build a number of new attractive tours to attract visitors from the provinces of Laos and northeastern Thailand to travel to Nghe An and other localities in Vietnam...

At the request of relevant sectors and international travel agencies, in the coming time, Vietnam Airlines will connect points to form the Da Nang - Vinh - Vientiane route and arrange a reasonable flight schedule, ensuring passenger travel, promoting the economic efficiency of the route as well as contributing to promoting local economic development.

Hoang Vinh