TOKYO — Vietjet will launch a direct route between Đà Nẵng and Osaka on December 20, expanding its network in Japan ahead of the Việt Nam-Japan Tourism Cooperation Year 2027-28, the airline said on Monday.

The route will operate four round trips per week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, Vietjet said in a statement issued during the Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm's ongoing official visit to Japan.

Expected to boost two-way tourism, trade and business ties between the two countries, the new service is also aimed at improving connectivity between central Việt Nam and Japan's Kansai region.

Vietjet has operated flights to Japan since 2018 and currently runs 138 flights per week between the two countries across 22 routes, including scheduled and charter services. It has carried more than 4.8 million passengers on 27,400 flights, connecting Việt Nam with 17 destinations in Japan, the airline said.

Its scheduled services link Việt Nam with six major Japanese cities: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Hiroshima and Shizuoka. Vietjet is the only airline operating direct flights on the Hà Nội-Hiroshima and Hà Nội-Shizuoka routes, it said.

The airline also operates charter services to other Japanese destinations, including Fukushima, Sendai, Niigata, Matsuyama, Sapporo, Komatsu, Ibaraki, Kagoshima, Aomori and Yonago.

Vietjet chief executive Nguyễn Thanh Sơn said the airline's network expansion would help strengthen bilateral ties and create opportunities for cooperation in tourism, trade, education and investment.

The Việt Nam-Japan Tourism Cooperation Year 2027-28 is expected to provide further momentum for tourism exchanges and broader cooperation between the two countries. —VNS