Binh Dinh (VNA) – Binh Dinh and Korean Air should w༺ork together to laun♔ch a direct air route from the central Vietnamese province to the Republic of Korea (RoK) by the end of this year, an official said on August 21.

At a working session with a Korean Air delegation in Ho Chi Minh City, Chairman of the Binh Dinh People’s Committee Pham Anh Tuan requested the provincial People’s Committee Office, the Department of Tourism, the Department of External Affairs, and relevant agencies establish a working group and accomplish procedures in order to open the air route by the year's end. Having realised the importance of parnering with the aviation industry to draw tourists and contribute to tourism development, Binh Dinh has implemented many activities to call for investment, open charter flights, and organise many cultural, sports and tourism events. From 2020 to July 2024, the province attracted 465 investment projects in various fields with registered capital totalling over 184.3 trillion VND (nearly 7.4 billion USD), including 22 tourism projects capitalised with 22.38 trillion VND. This result indicates that domestic and international investors have very high demand for travelling to/from Binh Dinh by air to survey and explore investment opportunities, he said. Over 6.68 million tourists visited Binh Dinh in the first seven months of 2024, an increase of 97.9% over the same period last year. The province also recorded almost 18.1 trillion VND in tourism revenue, surging 68.7% year on year. Tuan suggested that Korean Air promote cooperation with Vietnamese and international travel agencies to organise charter flights to bring Korean tourists to Binh Dinh and vice versa in the coming time. He also called on the carrier to introduce the local tourism to travel companies in the RoK and popularise images of Binh Dinh on its flights and media channels. Agreeing with Binh Dinh's proposal, a leader of Korean Air committed to collaborate with the Vietnamese province to soon operate charter flights by the end of this year. Kim Kye Yong, Chief Representative of Korean Air in HCM City, said the airline is looking forward to working with the province to launch flights from the RoK to Quy Nhon city of Binh Dinh in the future. It hopes to receive support from the local administration and relevant agencies in this regard. Binh Dinh is home to Phu Cat Airport, about 30km to the northwest of Quy Nhon city. This airport is serving the routes linking Quy Nhon with HCM City and Hanoi operated by Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Jetstar Pacific, and Bamboo Airways. In 2023, it handled 10,350 flights with over 1.9 million passengers. The respective figures stood at 2,505 and over 450,000 during the first sevent months of 2024./.