Can Tho-Bangkok air service to start this month

Huynh Kim

Le Van Tam, vice chairman of Can Tho City, speaks at a media briefi ng held in Can Tho on Monday to introduce Can Tho-Bangkok service - PHOTO: HUYNH KIM

The new service is a joint effort of Vietravel, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Can Tho City.

As scheduled, Thai VietJet will use its Airbus A320 aircraft on the route on July 21, 25, 29 and August 2. The flight will depart from Bangkok at 11:30 a.m. and Can Tho City at 1:30 p.m. and last one hour and a half.

Le Van Tam, vice chairman of Can Tho City, told a media briefing in Can Tho on Monday that the city is pinning high hopes that the service will help it and the Mekong Delta region boost international links in tourism, economic, cultural and educational sectors.

Tam said Can Tho Airport has mainly served domestic flights since it was put into use years ago and that there were only international flights between Can Tho and Taiwan during the Lunar New Year holiday (Tet).

The airport handled 225,000 passengers in the first six months of this year, up 72% against the same period of last year. But the number was quite small compared to its designed capacity of three million passengers per year, Tam said.

Ha Thanh Toan, president of Can Tho University, said more than 2,000 international guests visit the university every year with over 20% of them from Thailand. Besides, around 800 students and lecturers of the university go to Thailand every year.

Therefore, the new service will enable the university’s guests to take direct flights from Bangkok to Can Tho instead of flying to Tan Son Nhat airport and then taking a four-hour bus ride from HCMC to the Mekong Delta city.

Toan said as the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will be established later this year, the air route should be maintained to create more opportunities for Can Tho and the Mekong Delta region.

Luong Truong An, an executive of Thai VietJet, said the airline operates flights between Thailand and Vietnam every day. The airline will fly between Haiphong and Bangkok in the coming time.

An said the number of Thai visitors to Vietnam dropped by 30% in the first half of the year to around 100,000. The airline hoped there would be more flights linking Vietnam and Thailand to bring more passengers to Vietnam and vice versa.

Tran Doan The Duy, deputy general director of Vietravel, told the Daily that the number of tourists in the Mekong Delta region traveling to Thailand increased by seven times in January-June but did not reveal an exact figure.

Vietravel is working to attract European, U.S. and Australian tourists in Thailand to Can Tho and other parts of the region, Duy said.

A one-way air-ticket for the new route is VND2.699 million. Customers who buy the Can Tho-Bangkok-Pattaya tour of five days at VND7.39 million will enjoy a VND200,000 discount if they make bookings by July 15. In addition, they will be offered Muay Thai tickets worth US$40 each and covered by TAT.

According to the Can Tho Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the city welcomed more than one million visitors in the January-June period, up 60% over a year ago. It reported tourism revenue of VND970 billion in the period, up 85% year-on-year.

The entire Mekong Delta region attracted 22.5 million tourists and earned tourism revenue of over VND6.63 trillion last year, rising by 8.29% and 23.7% against 2013 respectively.

Vietnam Airlines and VietJetAir conduct flights linking Can Tho, Hanoi, Phu Quoc, Con Dao, Danang, Dalat and Taiwan.

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