China airline to open service to Vietnam’s Phu Quoc Island next year
Wednesday, November 04, 2015, 10:58 GMT+7
Phu Quoc Island, a famous tourist destination off the southern Vietnamese province of Kien Giang, is slated to be connected with China’s Guangzhou next year, a Chinese airline has said.
The Phu Quoc – Guangzhou route will be inaugurated in early January 2016, according to China Southern Airlines.
There will be one daily flight every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday to bring Chinese tourists to Phu Quoc Island, the Guangzhou-based carrier said in an announcement.
International tourists who arrive in Phu Quoc on nonstop flights are entitled to a 30-day stay without a visa.
Representatives of the Chinese airline visited Phu Quoc to study the feasibility of launching the service, and eventually decided that there are sound conditions to do so, according to Phu Quoc deputy chairman Huynh Quang Hung.
“Cui Heng, a China Southern Airlines representative, said the ecosystem and cuisine on Phu Quoc are very suitable for Chinese tourists, who love going to the beach and eat seafood all year round,” Hung told newswire The Saigon Times Online on Tuesday.
Phu Quoc received some 750,000 visitors in the Jan-Oct period, up 44 percent from the same period last year, The Saigon Times Online quoted Hung as saying.
The full-year tourist numbers are expected to be around 900,000, according to the official.
The Guangzhou service will add to the short list of international flights offered at the island’s Phu Quoc International Airport.
The Phu Quoc terminal is now connected with just Singapore and Cambodia’s Siem Reap.
There was previously a service to Russia but the route was temporarily suspended earlier this year as passengers became scarce.
The island is also expected to be connected with Seoul, as national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is in talks with South Korean partners to launch the service.
A Phu Quoc - Seoul route is likely to be inaugurated next month, Nguyen Diep Mai, deputy director of the Kien Giang tourism department, told The Saigon Times Online in October.
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