Russia Waives Visas for Vietnamese Travellers as the Russia – Cam Ranh Air Bridge Runs Nearly Full

From 15 October 2026, Vietnamese citizens holding ordinary passports may enter Russia without a visa and stay for up to 30 days for tourism, family visits, business, scientific, cultural, socio-political, economic or sporting activities, or transit through the country. The policy is valid until 15 October 2027. It does not apply to those travelling to Russia to work (including journalists), to study or to settle long-term. The change makes travel easier for Vietnamese visitors to Russia, who currently number around 15,000 a year. Russia is also stepping up tourism promotion in Southeast Asia through its “Discover Russia” programme. It presents a destination of deep cultural heritage, rich history and vast natural landscapes, supported by direct flights and friendly ties between the two countries.

Moscow (Sheremetyevo) – around 15 flights a week take off from Khanh Hoa for the Russian capital

Travel in the opposite direction is growing fast. In the first nine months of 2026, Vietnam welcomed around 1.13 million Russian visitors, up more than 160% year on year, making Russia Vietnam’s third-largest source market and the leading one in Europe. Cam Ranh International Terminal’s operating figures show 2,321 arriving flights from Russia carrying 721,566 passengers, and 2,299 departing flights to Russia carrying 711,042 passengers. In total, more than 1.43 million passengers travelled in both directions, an average of 311 per flight and a load factor of 95.6%, which means aircraft are almost completely full. There are currently around 60 departures a week, or about 8.6 flights a day in each direction. In September, nearly 2,800 Russian visitors arrived every day on average, so a flight from Russia lands at Cam Ranh roughly every 2 hours 47 minutes.

Vladivostok – around 3 Aeroflot scheduled flights a week connect Khanh Hoa with Russia’s Far East

Cam Ranh is now directly connected to 22 Russian cities, more Russian routes than any other airport in Southeast Asia. Moscow (Sheremetyevo) leads with 181,431 passengers, followed by Novosibirsk (90,547), Yekaterinburg (71,642), Krasnoyarsk (61,503) and Kazan (39,629). On departing flights, Aeroflot carried 219,166 passengers, Vietjet 184,733, Nordwind 91,347 and Ikar (Pegas Fly) 82,338. Aeroflot operates scheduled services on five routes (Moscow, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Vladivostok and Irkutsk), while Vietjet flies charters on ten. Wide-body aircraft dominate, including the A330-300 (870 flights), B777-200 and A350-900. Counting the whole CIS region (Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan), Cam Ranh handled 1.92 million passengers in 2026, overtaking South Korea (1.68 million) for the first time to become its largest market. Cam Ranh International Terminal will continue to serve as a reliable gateway for two-way travel between Russia and Vietnam.