Jeju Air, South Korea’s biggest low-cost carrier, will resume services on the routes from Incheon to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from April 20, after three years of suspension due to Covid-19, according to Yonhap.

South Korean and Vietnamese enterprises attend the 2022 Vietnam Tourism - Culture Festival in Seoul last October. Photo: Toquoc

Until late 2019, the budget carrier operated eight routes to five cities, including Danang, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, and Phu Quoc. 

Last June, the company restored the connection from Incheon to Danang and Nha Trang, and from Busan to Danang.

Jeju Air aims to turn around this year after posting net losses for three consecutive years through 2021 as eased virus restrictions unleash pent-up travel demand.

Vietnam expected to receive one million Korean arrivals this year, hoping to make a breakthrough in tourism cooperation in the near future, Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung said at a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Park Bo-gyoon last October on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“It is necessary to facilitate travel between Vietnam and South Korea for citizens of both countries,” he said.

According to the Vietnamese General Statistics Office, in 2022, of the nearly 3.7 million international visitors, some 965,000 are Koreans thanks to the resumption of air services between the two countries.

In 2019, South Korean tourists were the second largest group of visitors to Vietnam, with 4.3 million arrivals.