Domestic carriers have canceled hundreds of flights to and from central Vietnam provinces as strengthening storm Molave prepares for landfall.
National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines announced it had canceled 104 flights to and from Nghe An, Quang Binh, Thua Thien-Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quy Nhon and Phu Yen along the central coast, home to many of Vietnam’s most popular tourist destinations.
Pacific Airlines announced the cancellation of six flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang and two flights between HCMC and Quy Nhon, a beach town in Binh Dinh Province, scheduled to depart Wednesday.
Bamboo Airways canceled one flight departing from HCMC to Da Nang on Tuesday and suspended all flights to tourism hub Da Nang from 7 p.m. Tuesday until further notice.
Low-cost carrier Vietjet Air canceled two flights connecting Hanoi and Da Nang, scheduled to depart Tuesday due to the storm impacts.
Passengers of canceled flights will be transferred to other flights after the weather improves.
Storm Molave, the ninth storm to hit Vietnamese waters this year, is forecast to make landfall over central provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh on Wednesday.
Binh Dinh, home to resort town Quy Nhon; Quang Nam, famous for beaches An Bang, Cua Dai, Tra My; and Quang Ngai, home to My Khe Beach, have shut all public beaches and banned swimming at sea.
Da Nang, Thua Thien-Hue and Phu Yen have taken similar actions.
Prior to Storm Molave, the central region has been bombarded by prolonged heavy rains, severe flooding and deadly landslides for the past three weeks that resulted in at least 130 deaths as of Monday.