On Friday morning, the first direct flight from Thailand’s Chiang Mai International Airport, carrying 180 passengers onboard, landed at Da Nang International Airport.

First foreign passengers off the Chiang Mai-Da Nang flight

In her remarks at the welcoming ceremony, Deputy Director of the municipal Tourism Promotion Centre Huynh Thi Huong Lan said her city welcomed a total of around 60,000 visitors from Thailand during the 1^st quarter of this year, up 35.7% against 2018.

She added the Thai budget carrier would conduct seven round-trips per week on the route. This helps to increase the total flights between Thailand and Da Nang to 63 per week.

Ms Lan affirmed that the route connecting Da Nang, the largest city in Central Viet Nam, and Chiang Mai, the largest city on the northern side of Thailand, would open up the opportunity for the seaside city to further exploit the Thai tourist market, as well as to facilitate travellers in the city to easily fly to Chiang Mai without moving to Ho Chi Minh City or Ha Noi.

Ms Laddawan Meesupwatana, AirAsia's Head of Product and Indochina Market Group, remarked that Viet Nam was always one of her carrier’s famous destinations thanks to its developing economy, and growing tourism.

She added the newly-operated route would help to reinforce AirAsia's commitment in expanding its flight network to Viet Nam, and Southeast Asia as a whole.

Currently, AirAsia is operating direct flights between Da Nang and Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Chiang Mai.

To mark the opening of the Da Nang-Chiang Main non-stop air route, the Thai budget carrier is offering promotional tickets at a starting price of only 1 million VND per person per leg from now until 21 April.

The promotional tickets are now available on www.airasia.com or via the AirAsia mobile application for flights from now until 30 September.