Direct air services between Colombo and the Vietnamese cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will be officially launched during Vietnamese President Tô Lâm’s state visit on May 7-8, opening a new air corridor between Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
The President’s Media Division said the launch will be announced at the Sri Lanka–Vietnam Trade, Investment and Tourism Forum on May 8, where Tô Lâm will deliver the keynote address. Vietnam Airlines and VietJet Air will operate the new services, and the relevant agreements are expected to be exchanged during the forum.
The flights fill a longstanding connectivity gap. Sri Lanka had no non-stop service to Vietnam, and travellers between the two countries have routed via Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Hong Kong. Direct services are expected to lift bilateral tourism and ease cargo links between Colombo and Vietnam’s two largest commercial hubs.
President Tô Lâm, who is also General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, arrives in Sri Lanka on the night of May 7 at the invitation of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The trip marks the first visit by a Vietnamese President in 15 years and coincides with the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
A formal welcome ceremony at the Presidential Secretariat, bilateral talks, an address to Parliament and the signing of multiple Memoranda of Understanding are scheduled for May 8. The Cabinet has already approved five MoUs covering ICT, cultural cooperation, religious affairs, science and technology, and police training cooperation.
Vietnam’s Deputy Foreign Minister had earlier flagged direct air connectivity as a priority of the visit, and bilateral trade currently exceeds US$200 million. Closer ties with Vietnam — one of the world’s fastest-growing manufacturing economies — are expected to support Sri Lanka’s industrialisation drive, expand market access for Sri Lankan exports and strengthen tourism flows. The Vietnamese delegation is scheduled to depart Colombo on the night of May 8.
