Air Transport

Vietnam Airlines plans to launch a Hanoi-Osaka Kansai service in January to fill the void left by Japan Airlines, which is withdrawing from the route.

The service will be operated at least thrice-weekly, says an official at Vietnam's flag carrier who wishes to remain anonymous.

JAL will place its code on the service, he adds, as part of an agreement between the carriers to codeshare on flights on the Vietnam-Japan sector.

On 5 November, JAL said that it is cutting its Osaka Kansai-Hanoi service on 17 January. This is part of its wider plan to drop several international and domestic routes in the coming months in an effort to become profitable.