Vietnamese airports welcomed a total of 232,000 international passengers during the first quarter of the year, marking an increase of 502% against the same period from last year, according to statistics released by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.
April alone saw airlines operate a total of 30,000 flights, representing a decline of 2.4% compared to last year’s corresponding period.
Furthermore, airports across the country welcomed 6.6 million passengers, including 232,000 international arrivals, representing an annual drop of 14.3%.
Compared to the same period from last year, the number of international passengers using local airlines also picked up 214.7%, while domestic passengers dropped slightly by 18.2%.
With regard to freight transport in April, the volume of goods through Vietnamese airports surged by 18.4% to reach 140,700 tonnes. Of the figure, international cargo volume also soared by 45.3% to 117,700 tonnes, while the volume of domestic goods hit 23,000 tonnes, down 39.1%.
Following the rise in the number of international passengers, Vietnamese airlines have recently increased the number of flights on offer and have also moved to restore international air routes.
Most recently, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines unveiled that it will seek to increase the frequency of flights on eight routes to Japan and the Republic of Korea from May 15, while simultaneously restoring three routes to the Republic of Korea from June 1.