With the news of China reopening its borders this week, Lao Airlines is planning to fly to more cities in the country.
Currently operating flights only to Kunming, Lao Airlines is planning to launch five new flights from Vientiane Capital to China, the deputy director of Lao Airlines, Mr. Saleum Tayalath told the Laotian Times.
There will be three weekly flights between Vientiane and Guangzhou, two weekly flights between Vientiane and Shanghai, and one weekly flight between Vientiane and Chengdu, Vientiane and Changzhou, and Vientiane and Hangzhou.
Once these flights start operating in the near future, their frequency might be revised depending on passenger demand on a given route.
Mr. Saleum also added that Vientiane’s flights to Kunming had been facing numerous challenges while the zero-Covid policy was still in place in China. Due to social-distancing and strict quarantine measures, there were not enough passengers to fill seats, and only one flight was allowed to operate every week.
After China eased some of its Covid regulations, the Vientiane to Kunming flight has been performing much better, according to Lao Airlines. The carrier is not just operating almost full flights, it has also received approval from the Chinese government to operate daily flights to Kunming, informed Mr. Saleum.
Lao Airlines is also planning to expand flights to China from popular tourist provinces like Luang Prabang and Champasack to further facilitate ease of travel for both Chinese and Laos tourists to travel to each other’s country.
As per its current winter schedule, Lao Airlines has also been running weekly flights from Luang Prabang to Chengdu, Changsha, and Kunming.
Looking ahead, Lao Airlines hopes to serve as a connecting flight option between China and other neighboring countries as well.
Additionally, the airline is also focusing on improving its service quality for all customers, not just those from China. And it will continue to maintain Covid safety precautions in line with the policies of every country the airline operates in.
With flight options increasing between Laos and China, several tourism professionals in the country still feel that Laos may not be fully ready to take on a huge wave of Chinese tourists as the country is facing a considerable labor crisis in the hospitality industry at the moment.
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