VietJet Air to launch flights from Vizag to Ho Chi Minh City in 2025
The Vietnamese Ambassador announced this plan at the Andhra Pradesh-Vietnam Tourism Conclave
Tours & Travel Association of Andhra president K. Vijay Mohan submitting a representation to Vietnam Ambassador Nguyen Thank Hai and AP Tourism Minister Kandula Durgesh at a conference in Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam: VietJet Air, a low-cost Vietnamese airline based in Hanoi has evinced interest to launch flight connectivity to Visakhapatnam from Ho Chi Minh City initially and later to other destinations in Vietnam from early next year.
An indication to this effect was given by Ambassador of Vietnam to India Nguyen Thanh Hai at the Andhra Pradesh-Vietnam Tourism Conclave-2024 organised at Vijayawada by Aieraa Overseas Studies founder and CEO Deepa Ranganathan.
At the conclave, about 200 stakeholders attended along with AP Minister for Tourism, Culture and Cinematography Kandula Durgesh.
In his address, Nguyen Thanh Hai said that the required ecosystem needs to be created in Andhra Pradesh to get tourists from Vietnam to Visakhapatnam, Amaravati and other places and assured that a direct flight to Visakhapatnam will be introduced soon. The Minister said that the Government of AP will undertake all required steps to promote inbound tourism.
The stakeholders hoped that the Buddhist Circuits will by promoted at Amravati, Visakhapatnam, NagarjunaKonda, Guntupalli, Ghantasala, Bhimavaram, Adurru, Kapavaram, Kotturu, Thotlakonda, Bavikonda, Pavurallakonda, Bojjana Konda and Salihundam.
“The conference saw meaningful discussions for promoting tourism among Vietnam and Andhra Pradesh, which have rich Buddhist connections,” Tours and Travel Association of Andhra (TTAA) president and Visakhapatnam Airport Advisory Committee member K Vijay Mohan told Bizz Buzz on Sunday.
He said there is huge potential to promote tourism both ways if a Buddhist tourism circuit is developed by developing the required infrastructure and aggressively campaigning the significance of Kalachakra and Dhauli of Bhubaneswar. It is believed that Buddha first recited Kalachakra Tantra at Dhanyakataka Stupa at Amaravati. Dhauli is famous for becoming the venue of the Kalinga War where Chandashoka was transformed into Dharmaashoka. This was the place in Odisha where there was a pitched battle during the Kalinga War, bringing a change of mind in warrior king Ashoka after seeing thousands killed and maimed in a bloodbath and making him embrace Buddhism.
Vijay Mohan said though Thailand remains the topmost budget tourist destination from India, Vietnam is recording the fastest growth in number of arrivals as there is 35 per cent increase in arrivals from India in the past four months compared to the corresponding period the previous year. Due to visa free offers for Indians, Thailand is expecting 1.7 million Indian tourists during 2024 due to close proximity, nightlife, affordable shopping and food joints.
“The number is expected to record a sharp rise once direct flight is available,” Vijay Mohan said. At present, tourists have to travel via Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore and take a connecting flight to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City or travel through Bangaluru, Kolkata, Delhi or Mumbai and a few other tier-2 cities like Kochi, Trichy and Ahmedabad by spending a lot of time.
A direct flight will consume nearly four hours. While Vijayawada has a direct flight to Sharjah, Visakhapatnam has non-stop flights to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
