Air Seoul to open route to Hanoi in Dec

SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- Air Seoul Inc., a budget carrier unit of Asiana Airlines Inc., said Thursday it will open a new route to Hanoi in December as it diversifies its routes amid lower demand for travel to Japan.

Starting from Dec. 16, Air Seoul plans to offer seven flights a week to Hanoi as it strives to strengthen services on Southeast Asian routes to offset sharply lower travel demand to Japan, the company said in a statement.

Demand on the Japanese routes has fallen since early July when Japan implemented export restrictions of key materials to South Korea.

Airlines have halted or reduced services on their Japanese routes, while expanding flights on non-Japanese routes.

Air Seoul is wholly owned by Asiana Airlines.

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