A new carrier in Japan has announced its first destination, while Vietjet has started charters to Vietnam’s ancient capital city.
AirJapan, the new medium-haul unit of All Nippon Airways, will commence services on the Tokyo Narita-Bangkok route from 9 February 2024.
The carrier will operate Boeing 787-8s with 324 economy class seats on the route, which it will fly six times weekly.
ANA had previously disclosed that AirJapan will serve Southeast Asia, but without specifying destinations.
In a February, ANA Holdings said AirJapan is expected to “capture inbound demand…by launching flights to major cities in Southeast Asia, where the market opportunity is large and growing”.
Hainan Airlines will launch a new three-times-weekly service on the Shenzhen-Milan route. This will be the carrier’s third direct Italian service along with Chongqing-Rome and Shenzhen-Rome.
Cathay Pacific Airways has re-launched direct services between Hong Kong and South Africa after a three year hiatus. The carrier will operate three flights weekly with Airbus A350-900s on the Hong Kong Johannesburg route.
Meanwhile, South Korean carrier Aero K has launched a service from Cheongju to Tokyo Narita, according to the Japanese airport.
Narita airport notes that Cheongju is famous for its historical sites and dining options.
In Vietnam, Vietjet has operated a charter flight to from Seoul Incheon to Vietnam’s ancient capital, Hue. The service follows another charter to Hue operated from the Chinese city of Kunming.
The flights are notable in that they arrived at the new international terminal at Hue’s Phu Bai airport.
While the city has no scheduled international flights, its historic sites and cuisine make it very popular among travellers to Vietnam. Typically, international travellers to Hue fly into Vietnam’s big three international airports: Da Nang, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City.
Taiwanese carrier EVA Air has entered a letter of intent with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to promote tourism in the Southeast Asian country.
“The cooperation between EVA Air and the Tourism Authority of Thailand will allow tourists from all over the world to arrive in Thailand conveniently,” says Yutasak Supasorn, director of the Tourism Authority.
Thailand is the EVA’s biggest overseas destination. It says the number of passengers traveling from Europe to Bangkok has “skyrocketed” with the removal of travel curbs related to the coronavirus pandemic, prompting it to increase frequencies on its services from Taipei to Europe via Bangkok. It says that load factors on its European services to Bangkok are over 90%.
Update with Cathay Pacific’s Johannesburg service.
