[THE INVESTOR] Major local air carriers are expanding their services to Tokyo and Sapporo in Japan and Da Nang in Vietnam, in response to the growing number of tourists to the area, Incheon International Airport Corporation said on July 1.

Asiana Airlines has launched a new direct route to Sapporo, capital of Hokkaido prefecture, on the date. The new flights are scheduled to operate daily on its Boeing 767 aircraft, which carries 250 people.

Jin Air, Korean Air’s budget flight, has added two daily round-trip flights from Seoul to Tokyo’s Narita Airport. 



Jin Air flies out to the Japanese capital at the earliest time in the morning among all Tokyo-bound flights from Seoul. The flight arrives at Narita International Airport at 9:50 a.m., expecting to attract tourists who want to start their day early.

Another budget carrier T’way Airlines also started its service to the Vietnam’s resort-town Da Nang four times a week.

With the addition, total of six airlines -- including Korean Air, Asiana Airline and Jeju Air -- fly to Da Nang, with a total of 39 flights.

Last year, 7.35 million people traveled to Japan through the Incheon International Airport, up 15.6 percent from the previous year.

Korean people who traveled to Vietnam stood at 1.15 million people last year, a 38 percent increase from the previous year.

“We will expand the network between Japan -- Incheon International Airport’s major flight destination -- and Vietnam, one of the fastest growing travel destinations, for the convenience of Korean people, the airport’s CEO Chung Il-young said.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)