At the end of February, Bamboo Airways announced the termination of the lease contract for 3 Embraer E190s and stopped operating all direct flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao. This has caused many difficulties for tourists from the North when traveling to Con Dao.
Previously, tourists could fly directly from Hanoi to Con Dao in just over 2 hours. However, now they are forced to take connecting flights in Ho Chi Minh City or Can Tho, increasing the travel time to at least 4 hours.
This is a high demand route, limited exploitation makes many people regret and worry that ticket prices will become expensive.
In addition, airfares may also increase compared to before. According to Mr. Bui Thanh Tu - Director of Best Price travel agency, the total cost of round-trip travel from Hanoi to Con Dao may increase by about 10-20%.
Difficult travel has also affected the number of tourists to Con Dao. According to Mr. Tu, Con Dao has lost nearly 50% of visitors from the North after Bamboo Airways stopped direct flights.
Mr. Trung - residing in Long Bien district, Hanoi - shared: "Every year I still go to Con Dao for a 3-day, 2-night tour. But this year I have to take a connecting flight, I only have 1 day to enjoy the holiday, the remaining 2 days are mostly spent on traveling. Also because of the difficulty of traveling, the number of family members participating in this trip is limited."
To meet the demand for tourism to Con Dao, Vietnam Airlines has increased the frequency of flights to Con Dao since mid-March. In addition, tourists can also travel by speedboat from southern provinces such as Soc Trang, Vung Tau and Can Tho.
Visitors can also travel by speedboat from southern provinces such as Soc Trang, Vung Tau and Can Tho.
However, traveling by high-speed train also has many inconveniences such as long travel time (2.5 - 4 hours) and high ticket prices (from 280,000 to 1.2 million VND/person).
The suspension of direct flights from Hanoi to Con Dao has significantly affected tourism in Con Dao. Hopefully, airlines will soon have a solution to meet the travel needs of tourists from the North.
