Da Nang and Japan’s Hokkaido prefecture are planning to upgrade the current charter flight service to a regular air route between the 2 cities to boost their investment, tourism and trade activities, according to a Japanese official.

An aircraft of Vietnam Airlines lands at Da Nang International Airport. — VNS Photo Cong Thanh

Member of Hokkaido Prefectural council, Mr Chiba Hidemori called for the direct flight in a recent meeting with Da Nang's leaders.

Mr Hidemori, Chairman of the Viet Nam-Japan Friendship Association of Hokkaido, said cultural and trade exchanges and investment have been enhanced between the two cities since 2013, and the direct chartered flight resulted from positive co-operation between the two localities.

Municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh said Da Nang had inked memoranda of understanding on investment and co-operation with Yokohama, Kawasaki and Sakai, and established relationships with 15 other cities in Japan.

Vice Chairman Minh asked Hokkaido to support Da Nang building up seafood chains with funding from the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) of Kushiro city (a city on Hokkaido Island) in the coming years.

Passengers check-in at the new terminal of the International Da Nang Airport. The city and Hokkaido, Japan plan to launch a new direct flight in the near future. — VNS Photo Cong Thanh

To date, Da Nang has attracted 143 Japanese projects with total investment of 500 million USD. Foreign direct investment projects from Japan create 40,000 jobs for residents in the city and neighbouring provinces.

Japanese tourists were Da Nang’s second largest tourist segment last year, with more than 400,000 – 10 times as many as in 2013 (40,000).

The national flag carrier Viet Nam Airlines and budget Jetstar Pacific Airlines run direct flights from Da Nang to Narita and Osaka, respectively.

(Source: VNA/ DA NANG Today)