Thai budget carrier AirAsia has launched a new route between the central city of Da Nang and Bangkok, Thailand seven days a week, starting from June 9th.

The city’s tourism promotion centre said it’s the third airline operating the Bangkok-Da Nang route after Bangkok Airways and Vietnam Airlines.

Daily flights will depart from Da Nang at 12pm and arrive in Bangkok at 1.20pm, while the flights from Bangkok will depart at 10.10am and arrive in Da Nang at 11.30am.

AirAsia began offering a Kuala Lumpur-Da Nang route, with four weekly direct flights, in 2014.

According to the centre, the new route would offer more chances for tourists traveling between Viet Nam’s central region and Bangkok.

Last year, Bangkok Airways operated four flights per week with 144 Economy class seats on an Airbus 319.

In 2014, local travel firm Viettravel also offered direct charter flights between the city and Bangkok on Thai Vietjet.

According to the city, import-export turnover between Thailand and Da Nang reached US$30.2 million, of which $28.5 million were exports from Thailand.

Thailand has only had one investment project in the city so far with total value of $10,000.

The city hosted a mere 24,000 tourists from Thailand – 1.4 per cent of total foreign tourists visiting the city – in 2016.

Da Nang has hosted the annual East-West Corridor Trade Fair since 2007, which attracted businesses from Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Viet Nam.

The city, which is situated at the end of the East-West Economic Corridor – linking Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Viet Nam, is connected by 25 international routes with over 5.6 million tourists in 2016. — VNS