On the evening of October 2, more than 170 passengers on China Southern Airlines flight CZ8155 from Shenzhen (China) landed at Da Nang International Airport.
China has long been a key international tourist market for Da Nang. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the city had up to 5 regular flights and nearly 30 charter flights connecting directly to many Chinese cities.
In 2019, the number of Chinese visitors to Da Nang reached nearly 1 million, accounting for a large proportion of the international visitors structure. However, everything has changed rapidly after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the first 8 months of 2025, Da Nang welcomed about 5 million international visitors, an increase of more than 23% over the same period in 2024. However, most of the growth came from South Korea and some emerging markets, while the number of Chinese visitors has not recovered strongly.
Therefore, China Southern Airlines' return to the Shenzhen - Da Nang route is a particularly important signal. This is a group of tourists with high spending ability, preferring beach resorts and experiential tourism - the strengths that the Central region possesses.
Shenzhen is a major technology and financial center of China, where the middle class and upper class are concentrated. The direct flight from this city to Da Nang will significantly reduce costs and transit time, thereby increasing the attraction of Da Nang compared to competitive destinations in the region such as Phuket (Thailand) or Bali (Indonesia).
In the long term, if exploited effectively and there are appropriate attraction policies, the Shenzhen - Da Nang route will become a "push up" to restore the China - Da Nang aviation network, which was very vibrant before 2020. Flights from Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou... may also be reopened one by one, making the Central region the second largest international tourist destination in the country, after Ho Chi Minh City.
However, the flight route is only a necessary condition. To realize expectations, Da Nang and the Central provinces need to have synchronous development policies.
In particular, it is necessary to diversify tourism products. Not only stopping at the sea or cultural heritage, this area needs to develop more products such as medical tourism, MICE tourism, eco-cultural tourism to extend the length of stay.
The restoration of the Shenzhen - Da Nang route not only creates expectations for growth of international visitors in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the whole year of 2026, but also contributes to achieving and exceeding the tourism targets of many localities. This is an important boost to restore the Chinese flight network, reducing dependence on some traditional markets such as South Korea.
In a broader sense, each reopened international route is not only a trip of a few hundred passengers, but also a return of confidence - an affirmation that Da Nang and the Central region are ready to welcome the world with innovation, friendliness and professionalism.
