An aircraft of Bamboo Airways (Photo: VNA)Tokyo (VNA) - Bamboo Airways will fly directly between Vietnam and Japan fromMay 20.
TheVietnamese carrier has secured permission from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,Transport and Tourism to operate seven flights a week on each of three routes:HCM City - Tokyo Narita, HCM City - Osaka, and Hanoi - Osaka.
The carrierhas, however, postponed the launch of these services because of the COVID-19pandemic, Bamboo Airways Deputy General Director Truong Phuong Thanh said.
It initiallyplanned to launch its first flight on the routes in May but the pandemic has dampeneddemand and created problems for the carrier’s preparations, he said.
Bamboo willwork with agencies in Japan and tour operators to restart services once themarket rebounds and all necessary conditions have been met, he added.
Thanh alsorevealed that new-generation B787-9 Dreamliner and A321neo aircraft will beused on the routes.
He alsospoke highly of the potential of the Japanese market, saying that the number ofJapanese tourists to Vietnam has been on the rise for a decade, growing 8 to 10percent annually.
Close to1.45 million people travelled between Vietnam and Japan last year, an increaseof 18.9 percent against 2018. Of these, 495,000 were Vietnamese, up 27.3percent, while 952,000 were Japanese, up 15.2 percent.
About 370,000Vietnamese people are living in Japan - its third-largest community offoreigners, after Chinese and South Koreans, he noted./.
VNA
