Phu Quoc to see waves of international arrivals

Phu Quoc Island off Kien Giang Province will likely welcome strong waves of international arrivals starting this November as many international flights to the holiday destination during the peak season have been planned, the Saigon Times Daily reported.
Phu Quoc Island off Kien Giang Province will likely welcome strong waves of international arrivals starting this November as many international flights to the holiday destination during the peak season have been planned, the Saigon Times Daily reported.

Vietnam Airlines will launch five international weekly flights to Phu Quoc, with two from Singapore using A321 aircraft and three from Cambodia’s Siem Reap using ATR72 aircraft, according to Airports Corporation of Vietnam.

Meanwhile, a number of foreign carriers also have plans to scale up their frequencies of chartered flights to Phu Quoc.

Russia’s travel firm Pegas Touristik will organise 30 chartered flights a month to the island from November, with 186 flights in total over a period of nearly five months, bringing tourists from Moscow.

The Republic of Korea’s Hanjin Travel plans to charter aircraft of Asiana Airlines to the island with two to four flights a week.

In terms of domestic services, there are currently three local carriers, namely Vietnam Airlines, VietJetAir and Jetstar Pacific, flying between Phu Quoc and three major cities – Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho and Hanoi.

Phu Quoc Airport welcomed more than 5,600 flights with as many as 666,000 passengers in the year’s first eight months. On the busiest day, the airport handled a total of 40 flights with over 4,600 passengers.

The number of passengers through the airport is estimated to reach one million for all of 2014, a year-on-year jump of 45 percent.

The fact that many airlines plan to kick off new services and increase flight frequencies to Phu Quoc is attributable to improved infrastructure for tourism and hospitality there.

Vinpearl and Salinda are expected to supply 1,000 luxury hotel rooms on the island by the end of this year. The expansion of local resorts will also add more rooms to help meet the increasing demand of tourists there.

Airports Corporation of Vietnam and local travel agencies are now working together to woo Russian visitors, who are entitled to a visa-free stay of up to 30 days.

Carriers launching international air services to Phu Quoc will enjoy a 50 percent discount on aircraft ground handling fees over three years from the launch date of their maiden flights to the island.

Phu Quoc Airport was inaugurated and put into service in December, 2012. The airport meets 4E standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).-VNA

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