At 1am on May 27, the first international flight numbered DZ62249 from Shenzhen, China with 140 passengers landed at the Van Don International Airport.
Quang Ninh’s Vice Chairman, Dang Huy Hau, presented flowers and warmly welcomed the first passengers and the crew.
The charter flights from Shenzhen to Van Don are performed by Donghai Airlines. As scheduled, two flights operating weekly on Monday and Friday take off from Shenzhen Baoan airport at 23.05 and land at Van Don at 1.30 the next day, the return ones set off at 3.00 and arrive in Shenzhen at 5.45. These flights will be on Boeing 737-800 aircraft which can seat 162 passengers.
New domestic flights from Van Don to Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Nha Trang will be operated in the 3rd quarter of this year. According to the Director of the Van Don International Airport, Pham Ngoc Sau, this is a new record on the operation of airport in Vietnam. Van Don Airport starts to deploy the first international flight only after five months of operation instead of 3-5 years as normal.
The airport commited to offer Dong Hai Airlines the most favorable conditions to undergo its operation in Van Don. In the meanwhile, this new airport also plans to promote the image of Van Don and Ha Long in Shenzhen in particular and China in general.
In 2019, Van Don plans to add some new direct international routes such as Taiwan, Hainan, Nanning, Guangzhou (China), Incheon (Korea), Bangkok (Thailand) and Japan.
So far, the Van Don International Airport has greeted more than 90,000 passenger arrivals on 664 flights operated by Vietnam’s leading airlines such as Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways since December 30, 2018.
The airport was listed among the top five airports with the highest points for quality services in the first quarter of the year, according to a survey by the Airport Performance Measurement Program (APMP).
By Phuong Loan
