The day is near when you can fly without a transfer from Hai Phong, the gateway to northern Vietnam, to the southern resort island of Phu Quoc. Sun PhuQuoc Airways, an emerging carrier under the Sun Group, launches two new routes from Hai Phong on July 25. For Japanese living in the north, it means the once-distant southern island suddenly comes within reach. Since it bears directly on travelers' round-trip plans and residents' use of long weekends, it's worth sorting out what the routes offer and how to use them.
What the two routes launching July 25 involve
The routes launching are Hai Phong⇄Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong⇄Phu Quoc, two lines. Both run one round trip a day, formally taking off on July 25. Hai Phong's Cat Bi International Airport thus becomes the seventh airport served by Sun PhuQuoc Airways. For the company, flights out of Hai Phong are a first, expanding its foothold in the north all at once. To coincide with the launch, promotional fares and service perks to stir early demand are said to be prepared too.
One number worth watching is the bookings. The two routes together are said to have already taken more than 5,000 reservations, showing that southbound demand from the north is quite strong even before launch. Against a starting scale of one round trip a day, this pile-up of bookings reads as the market's response itself.
Why a still-young airline extended into the north
Sun PhuQuoc Airways is an airline run by the Sun Group, known for resort development; a new company that was established in October 2025 and only began commercial operations that November. As its parent's name suggests, its routes are built with Phu Quoc as the pivot, and it has assembled a network linking the island to major cities in a short time. With this Hai Phong launch, its bases grow from six airports to seven.
On the Hai Phong side, Cat Bi International Airport is the north's main airport after Hanoi's Noi Bai, with good access from the city. The idea of linking the north's population cluster and Phu Quoc's resort demand with a nonstop direct flight clearly aims to grow tourism and aviation along the same line. That Phu Quoc was folded into the new An Giang Province in the 2025 administrative reorganization is also worth noting in tracking the southern resort's position.
Routes and service summary
| Line | Flight frequency | Launch date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hai Phong ⇄ Ho Chi Minh City | 1 round trip/day | July 25, 2026 | Its first route out of Hai Phong |
| Hai Phong Phu Quoc | 1 round trip/day | July 25, 2026 | A direct flight from the north becomes reality |
| Cat Bi International Airport | A base at a seventh domestic airport | July 25, 2026 | Bookings top 5,000 across the two routes |
How those involved see it
La Vinh Nam, representing Sun PhuQuoc Airways' business division, explains that both routes will officially run one round trip a day each from July 25. By stating the launch date and scale outright, the carrier signals an intent to firm up its network starting from reliably flying one daily round trip.
The response on the receiving Hai Phong side is positive too. Do Thanh Binh, deputy director of the Hai Phong City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that as strengthening the link between tourism and aviation grows more important, the company's decision to expand its route network to the port city of Hai Phong shows the city's appeal and potential in tourism, trade, and investment. Adding airports itself is taken as material that raises the city's standing.
The third response shows in travelers' own booking behavior. The fact that more than 5,000 reservations stacked up on two routes before launch is the surest proof that demand to go direct from the north to the southern resorts really exists. Combined with fare discounts, this early momentum has room to grow further.
How travelers and residents should choose between them
What helps in practice is that the hassle of transferring disappears. Until now, heading to Phu Quoc from the north basically meant a combination routed through Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, with connection times and re-checking baggage hard to predict. If the wait at the transit point drags on, arriving on the island at night is not unusual. A direct flight from Cat Bi cuts out all that uncertainty. For northern residents, weekend-style use - leaving on a Friday night or the first day of a long weekend and spending a few days on the island - becomes realistic. Even for Hanoi residents, the option of basing themselves at Cat Bi, just under two hours away by expressway, comes into view.
The booking trick is to aim for the early promotional period right after launch. New routes tend to see fares move during the startup phase when carriers want to fill seats, and this summer Vietnam's domestic network as a whole is in an expansion phase. For the easy-to-book windows and the knack of reserving,An article on this summer's big domestic-route flight increases, so it's worth checking alongside. With one round trip a day, flight options are limited. Lock in the return time first and plan around a night before and after to avoid missing connections. Just after launch, minor schedule adjustments are likely until operations stabilize, so booking transfers and lodging on changeable terms is the safer bet.
If you're with family or older companions, the stairs at transfers and re-checking luggage tend to be a physical burden. A direct flight fits well there and maximizes your time on the island. Conversely, if you want to tour southern cities beyond Phu Quoc together, routing via Ho Chi Minh City gives you more freedom to move. Think of direct versus connecting clearly by whether the trip's purpose is "relax on the island" or "cover the south broadly."
As a rule of thumb for choosing: for speed above all, the direct flight from Cat Bi; for flexibility in frequency and fare options, routing via Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. As for how to get around Phu Quoc itself,How to explore Phu Quoc, in the spotlight for its filming-location fameis a useful reference too.
Ripple effects on the industry
It's natural to see this move as part of the expansion strategy of Sun PhuQuoc Airways, which is growing its routes around Phu Quoc. Combining the parent resort business with aviation and holding the flow of visitors to the island with its own flights is a way of breaking into the market with thinking different from the existing major carriers. The company's expansion policy isA separate article on the fleet expansiontouches on it too. By establishing a base in the populous northern market, seat supply to Phu Quoc could thicken further going forward. For travelers, it's a welcome change in the direction of more choices and price competition.
Summary
The launch of two routes from Hai Phong is the arrival of a long-missing link - a direct flight from the north to Phu Quoc. Despite a modest start of one round trip a day, more than 5,000 advance bookings show the demand is real. Travelers should target the early promotions and the frequency-increase period, and residents can build it into weekend island trips. Let the fact that Cat Bi airport has become a new gateway to the south inform your next itinerary.
