Many Vietnamese and Chinese air carriers are racing to open and restart air routes between the two nations, goosing the tourism market up.

Several Chinese airlines have also increased their flight frequency to meet the soaring travel demand during the summer travel season.

China’s low-cost carrier Spring Airlines on Friday returned to the Vietnamese market with Flight 9C7557 departing from Shanghai for Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

The airline operates the Shanghai-Ho Chi Minh City route with a frequency of four flights a week.

As many as five airlines, including China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet, and Spring Airlines, are offering regular flights connecting Shanghai with Ho Chi Minh City.

A representative of Spring Airlines revealed that the airline would launch various packages and options to satisfy both solo passengers and firms.

Spring Airlines is a unit of Spring Tour, a travel giant in China. The carrier owns a fleet of over 125 aircraft and operates flights to 170 domestic destinations and 40 international ones.

Another Chinese airline, West Air, opened an air link between Hanoi and Chongqing in mid-May with three flights a week.

Before the launch of the air route, Vietnamese tourists had to fly to Guangdong and then take a train to reach Chongqing.

The direct route helps shorten travel time between the two destinations and make it convenient for Vietnamese visitors to explore the landscape of Chongqing.

Vietnamese airlines have jumped on the bandwagon to expand their links to China.

Apart from the routes to Shanghai and Chengdu, budget carrier Vietjet will officially serve passengers on the Ho Chi Minh City - Xian route from July.

Meanwhile, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is operating five routes between Vietnam and China, with a total of 33 round-trip flights per week.

The airlines are offering a variety of airfare ranges for flights connecting Vietnam and China.

For example, the prices of an air ticket on the Ho Chi Minh City - Guangzhou route range from VND5 million (US$195 ) to VND7 million ($273).

During the peak summer travel season, tourists tend to order outbound tours to China, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea due to reasonable costs, according to many local tour operators.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said that 63 international airlines and four domestic carriers had restored all international air services to what they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many airlines are planning to open more routes connecting Vietnam with other new destinations in Central Asia, India, and Australia. 

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