Vietnam’s new-age carrier Vietjet will officially launch a direct route connecting Hanoi with Osaka (Japan) on 8 November 2018, looking to further boost tourism and trade integration between the two countries and across the region.
A special ceremony to announce the new route was held today at the Japan-Vietnam Economic Forum in Tokyo with Vietnam’s President Tran Dai Quang, Japanese government’s representatives, and officials from both countries joining representatives of Vietjet.
At the ceremony, Vietjet, SBI Leasing Services, Natixis and some of the Japanese equity arrangers also signed a MOU worth a total of nearly US$600 million for the purpose of aircraft financing.
Using Vietjet’s new and modern A320 aircraft, the Hanoi-Osaka route will operate on a daily basis with a flight time of more than four hours per leg. As proposed, the flight will depart from Hanoi each day at 1:45am and arrive in Osaka at around 7:50am (local time). The return flight will take off from Osaka at 9:20am and land in Hanoi at around 1:10pm (local time).
Vietjet’s new service to Osaka will bring the airline’s total number of international routes to 45 while also servicing 38 domestic routes.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vietjet’s Vice President Nguyen Thi Thuy Binh said, “We are excited to be preparing to launch this new route. The Hanoi-Osaka route will be the first service for Vietjet’s expansion into Japan – the Land of the Rising Sun. We believe that this new connection and our expanding network will help make the travel dreams of millions of passengers come true.”
“Japan is known to people from all over the world for its natural beauty especially for its cherry blossom season and Mt. Fuji. The country is also adored for its many enviable cultural heritage, friendly people, mouth-watering cuisine and cutting-edge technology. As part of our expansion strategy in Japan, we will continue to open new routes connecting Vietnam and Japan’s economic and tourism hubs in order to diversify destination choices and meet the growing demand for air travel between the two countries and beyond to better connect with the rest of the world,” added Binh.
Osaka is Japan’s third largest city with a population of over 2.7 million people. It is not only the capital of the Kansai Region but also considered to be a cultural treasure of Japan for its striking traditional architecture and authentic Japanese cuisines. The city is well-known for its stunning tourist attractions and entertainment destinations such as the Osaka Castle (Ōsakajō), Sumiyoshi Taisha, Minoo Park, Universal Studios, Minami (Namba) and many more.
Vietjet has already collaborated with Japanese travel agencies to operate many direct-chartered flights from Vietnam to Osaka as well as Narita, Sendai, Nagoya, Ibaraki and Fukushima, a demonstration that the airline’s services and its efforts in connecting the two countries has been very well received.
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