Vietnam Aviation Report (2022)

New flight routes to places I would never have guessed, and the return of one of the fastest-growing flight routes in the region.

The Korean market is recovering

The last time I looked at the international departure board in Danang, there were 4 flights for the entire day. When I returned to Danang last week, there were two screens full of arrivals for the day, so things are picking up here.

The most notable of these arrivals is the number of flights from South Korea. There were 128 flights a week between Danang and Seoul in 2018, and the city pair was the fastest-growing route in Asia-Pacific in 2019.

On the day I arrived, there were 6 flights from Seoul. Not all of those would be daily, so it might be somewhere between 30-40 flights per week. A long way to go to get back to 128, but a vast improvement on the bleak days of 0 flights at the start of the year.

Danang diversifying to unexpected destinations

I happened to arrive in Danang on the same day that the inaugural flights from Danang to Mumbai and New Delhi were launched by Vietjet Air.

I’ve been following Vietjet’s expansion since I’ve been in Vietnam, and they made big inroads into China by serving secondary cities that the legacy airlines don’t bother with. China is still closed for general travel, so airlines that had exposure to the Chinese market have had to look elsewhere.

While Vietjet has already launched the most obvious routes (Delhi/Mumbai), it’s been interesting to see where they go next. I would not have guessed that Danang to Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Hyderabad would ever be a consideration.

Nha Trang has my favourite new route of the year

The loss of the Chinese market has hit Nha Trang harder than Danang, which at least had the South Korean market. Nha Trang was traditionally associated with Russian tourists, but that market was overtaken by the Chinese market sometime in the mid-2010s. By 2019, there were flights to 30 mainland Chinese cities, so tourism in Nha Trang is nowhere near back to 2019 levels.

To diversify beyond China, Vietjet is launching a Nha Trang to Almaty (Kazakhstan) service. This is another new flight that I would never have guessed for 2022.

There used to be a service from Almaty to Ho Chi Minh City with Air Astana. I wanted to fly that route, but they cancelled it before I could book it. I ended up taking the Bangkok – Almaty flight instead. I could be tempted to go back to Central Asia via this new route.

I always thought that Air Astana should have been bolder by flying to Nha Trang instead of Ho Chi Minh City. I guess that most Kazakhstanis in their landlocked frozen winters would prefer a tropical beach holiday over a city break. I also wonder if Vietjet would consider trying out other Central Asian destinations if the Almaty route works.

Hanoi (HAN) – Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) is back

The annual OAG report on the busiest flight routes has been released for 2022, and Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City is the second busiest domestic flight route in the world. There is basically no competition with rail as it takes a day and a half to do the trip. I keep waiting for the day when Vietnam announce their plans for the North-South Express railway, and how fast the railway will be.

Expanding Tan Son Nhat

While I have been covering the future second airport of Ho Chi Minh City, the current airport (Tan Son Nhat International Airport) is supposed to start expansion work this month. It was supposed to start last year, but the land that is owned by the military was still not handed over.

Some progress was made this month with the demolition of the revetments left over from the war era. These thick concrete blocks have impeded expansion on what is already a small parcel of land. I saw the demolition crews when I left for KL, so hopefully the next time I fly out, I see work starting on the new terminal.