After years of pandemic-induced silence, the skies above Vietnam’s Phu Quoc Island are poised to buzz with renewed energy. In a move that signals both a return to normalcy and an ambitious leap forward, the island’s tourism and aviation sectors are joining forces to welcome back Russian and CIS tourists through a massive charter flight program for the winter season of 2025-2026. The initiative, spearheaded by Anex Vietnam Trading and Tourism Co., Ltd., is expected to inject fresh vitality into Phu Quoc’s tourism industry, while also highlighting Vietnam’s growing role in international air navigation cooperation.
According to Nhan Dan, the resumption of charter flights bringing Russian tourists to Phu Quoc Special Zone follows several years of interruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and a host of other objective factors. The new plan is anything but modest: Anex Vietnam aims to operate charter flights from 14 cities across Russia and CIS countries, with a frequency of 75 to 80 flights per month. This ambitious schedule is designed to ensure the transportation of more than 10,000 international passengers every month, ultimately welcoming a projected 60,000 guests during the winter season alone.
The first of these eagerly awaited flights is set to touch down on October 19, 2025. Local officials are brimming with optimism. As a representative from the Phu Quoc Special Zone leadership put it, “the expansion of charter flights in the winter season 2025-2026 is expected to trigger a tourism boom in Phu Quoc, continuously bringing tens of thousands of international tourists to experience the natural beauty and unique culture of the island.”
This is more than just a numbers game. The return of Russian tourists is anticipated to not only boost the island’s international visitor tally but also to serve as a powerful promotional tool for Vietnam as a world-class tourist destination. The Department of Tourism in An Giang province emphasized that this development “helps increase the number of international visitors to the island but also promotes Vietnam as a tourist destination and boosts commercial-tourism promotion activities in An Giang province.”
Phu Quoc, often dubbed the “pearl island,” has long been recognized for its pristine beaches, lush forests, and vibrant local culture. The influx of international guests is poised to reaffirm its status as a top-tier resort destination, not just within Vietnam but across the region. As the leadership in Phu Quoc confidently stated, the island is now “affirmed as a high-class resort tourism center of the country and the region.”
But while Phu Quoc prepares for an influx of tourists, Vietnam’s aviation sector has been busy forging connections of its own on the international stage. On October 3, 2025, Lê Hoàng Minh, Chairman of the Board of Members of the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM), led a high-level delegation to Prague for a series of meetings with the Air Navigation Services of the Czech Republic (ANS CR) and the Czech Air Navigation Institute (CANI), as reported by VATM News.
The visit was more than ceremonial. ANS CR, a powerhouse in Central European aviation with about 950 employees—including nearly 600 direct air traffic controllers—manages close to 1 million flights annually, with a combined maximum takeoff weight of over 88 million tons. This impressive operational scale positions ANS CR as a regional leader in air navigation services, a fact not lost on the visiting Vietnamese delegation.
During the meetings, Jan Klas, Director General of ANS CR, provided an overview of the organization’s structure, workforce, and the breadth of services provided. The Czech Air Navigation Institute (CANI) was also in the spotlight. As an educational institution under ANS CR and a member of the ICAO TRAINAIR PLUS network, CANI boasts over 30 years of experience in training air traffic controllers, technical staff, managers, and aviation English specialists. The institute utilizes cutting-edge ATC simulation systems and draws on a faculty of seasoned international instructors, keeping pace with global trends and ICAO standards in air traffic management training.
Adding an extra layer of international collaboration, CAE Canada—a strategic partner of CANI—participated in the program, showcasing its strengths and achievements in air traffic controller training. The partnership between CANI and CAE has expanded their global training capacity, providing valuable reference points for VATM as it seeks to enhance its own training programs.
The Vietnamese delegation toured CANI’s state-of-the-art facilities, which include modern classrooms, ATC simulation centers, dormitories, physical training areas, and comfortable rest spaces. Such investments, they observed, create an environment where students can develop both professionally and physically—a holistic approach that’s increasingly valued in aviation circles.
No visit to Prague’s aviation infrastructure would be complete without a stop at the city’s bustling air traffic control tower. Here, the VATM team learned about the organizational models, coordination mechanisms, and advanced equipment that keep hundreds of thousands of flights moving safely through Czech airspace each year. The professionalism and scientific rigor of the Czech system left a strong impression on the Vietnamese visitors.
Looking ahead, both ANS CR and CANI expressed a clear desire to deepen cooperation with VATM. Their wish list includes joint training of air traffic controllers, development of instructors and trainers, and the sharing of experience with advanced training models. In a sign of mutual commitment, representatives from ANS CR and CANI promised to visit and work with VATM in December 2025, aligning their trip with the CANSO Asia-Pacific Conference in Hong Kong, China.
For VATM, this budding partnership opens the door to joining the ICAO TRAINAIR PLUS program and further solidifies its growing role in the international network of air navigation service providers. As the VATM News article noted, “this visit opens opportunities for deep cooperation between VATM and ANS CR/CANI, laying a foundation for VATM to participate in the ICAO TRAINAIR PLUS program and affirming VATM’s growing role in the international cooperation network for air navigation service provision.”
All told, these developments—both in the skies above Phu Quoc and in the corridors of Prague’s aviation institutions—underscore Vietnam’s determination to reclaim its place on the global tourism and aviation map. With the return of Russian tourists and the forging of new international partnerships, the country is setting its sights high. The months ahead promise not just a boom in visitor numbers, but a strengthening of Vietnam’s connections across continents, both for those who travel for leisure and those who keep the world’s airways safe and efficient.
As Vietnam’s tourism and aviation sectors prepare for a pivotal winter, the excitement is palpable. The groundwork has been laid, the planes are ready, and the world is watching to see just how high Vietnam can soar.