Late April saw the nation’s newest carrier Bamboo Airways start operating its first charter flights to Ibaraki airport using an Airbus A321 Neo aircraft.

After the success of the charter flights with seats fully booked, the prefecture of Ibaraki along with Bamboo Airways and a major Vietnamese tourism company plan to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on July 1 to launch regular flights from Vietnam to Ibaraki Airport.

According to preliminary statistics, the demands of tourists for travel between the two countries has risen steadily in recent years with Vietnam becoming a favourite destination in Southeast Asia for many Japanese tourists.  

Simultaneously, the number of Vietnamese tourists to Japan has seen impressive growth with nearly 390,000 making the trip annually.

With the imminent launch of regular flights to Ibaraki airport, Vietnamese tourists will have the chance to visit a range of tourist attractions in the locality including Kairakuen garden, which is widely considered to be one of the three most beautiful gardens in all of Japan, Hitachi Seaside Park, and Ushiku Budda, the world’s largest bronze statue.