Japanese airline Vanilla Air has launched its service between HCMC and Tokyo, becoming the first Japanese budget airline to fly to Vietnam. Vanilla Air flights will have stopovers at Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan’s Taipei.

Mio Yamamuro, Vanilla Air deputy general director, said at a press conference in HCMC last week that Vietnam is the airline’s first foreign destination in Southeast Asia. 

She said the number of flyers between Vietnam and Japan soared 49% year-on-year last year and amounted to over 141,000 in the first seven months of this year.

Yamamuro said demand for air travel between HCMC and Taiwan has surged as the territory has relaxed visa regulations for Vietnamese citizens.

Established in 2011, Vanilla Air is a unit of ANA Holdings Group, which owns All Nippon Airways. It has nine Airbus A320s.

SGT