Vietravel Airlines’ flight VU1418 carrying more than 130 passengers took off at 22:40 p.m. on August 20 from Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi and landed at 1:20 a.m. (local time) at the Sanya Phoenix International Airport in Hainan in China.

This marks the start of a series of charter flights jointly implemented by Vietravel Airlines with its partners following the success of the flight connecting Nha Trang to Macau, which was put into operation in May.

A representative of the airline said that the new direct flight will provide a premise for the airline to continue to deploy further regular commercial flights between the nation and the Chinese side moving forward.

Vu Duc Bien, president and CEO of Vietravel Airlines, emphasised that China represents one of the major markets in Asia that the carrier has set a target to fly to on the first day since its establishment.

He added that the airline plans to approach the potential market by conducting charter flights first, before putting regular flights to China into operation in the time ahead.

With the direct air route between Hanoi and Sanya, the airline has co-operated with partners to conduct a series of flights with the ultimate aim of bringing a large number of tourists to and from the two countries.

Earlier on August 12, leaders of Vietravel Airlines and Cambodia Airways signed a new aircraft lease contract. The airline’s fifth aircraft, belonging to the Airbus A320 series, is expected to be put into operation in September, thereby fulfilling its plan to expand the international commercial route network.