All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd (ANA) will launch direct flights between Ha Noi's Noi Bai Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport on March 30 to meet the increased customer demand.

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd (ANA) will launch direct flights between Ha Noi's Noi Bai Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport on March 30 to meet the increased customer demand.

ANA was the largest airline in Japan by passenger numbers and revenues in 2012. The daily flight will take off from Haneda at 8.45 amand arrive at Noi Bai Airport at11.55 am, while the return flight will depart at2pm.

Haneda Airport, which is the biggest airport in Japan andalso the second most crowded in Asia, is only 19 kilometres away from the centre of Tokyo and it takes only 25 minutes to travel the distance, in comparison with the 75 minute-travel from Narita Airport.

Haneda Airport also has smooth and less tressful flight connections to the US West Coast and Honolulu. ANA also plans to launch a series of flights from Haneda to London, Paris, Vancouver, Munich, Manila, Singapore, Bangkok and Jakarta within this year.

To mark the event, ANA is offering special early bird promotion fares, to be issued between March 10 and March 24, at US$650 for round-trip flights between May 7 and May 31.

All Nippon Airways introduced the Ha Noi – Haneda flight route in Ha Noi on Monday. The flight would be official launched on March 30, connecting capitals of the two countries.

After opening the HCM City-Tokyo (Narita Airport) route in 2001, ANA had nurtured the plan to open the Ha Noi route and "now, it has been realised,"Ryoichi Fujisaki, ANA director in Viet Nam, said.

According to ANA, in 2013, the number of Vietnamese arrivals in Japan numbered around 75,000 and the total international arrivals in Japan was estimated at 10 million.

The Government of Japan aims to double the international arrivals in the country by 2020 and the launching of the Ha Noi – Tokyo route would contribute to realising that goal.

ANA expects the number of passengers from Viet Nam to Japan to triple to 200,000 per year with the launching of the route, adding that Viet Nams economy was also recovering, which would help boost the demand for travel.

All Nippon Airways, with excellent services, received awards of SKYTRAX Five Star Airline and AIR TRANSPORT WORLD's "Airline of the Year" in 2013. – Photos Courtesy All Nippon Airways

Deputy Minister of Transport Pham Quy Tieu said that he hoped the launch of the new route would enhance bilateral cooperation and exchanges in trade and culture.

A representative from the Japan Business Association in Viet Nam said that the new route was good news to the Japanese business community in Viet Nam as travel will become more convenient.

Established in December 1952, ANA ranked ninth in the world in terms of revenue in 2012, with flight networks to 32 international cities and 50 domestic cities. ANA operates a total of 1002 international flights per week and 808 domestic flights daily.

For its excellent services, ANA was awarded SKYTRAX Five Star Airline in 2013 and AIR TRANSPORT WORLDs "Airline of the Year" award in 2013. — VNS