Bounma Chanthavongsa, President of Lao Airlines, recently held a press conference at the Lao Embassy in Tokyo to release details of the upcoming regular direct weekly flights between Kumamoto and Vientiane/Luang Prabang.
Lao Airlines will offer two weekly flights to Vientiane, and two to Luang Prabang from Kumamoto, Mr Bounma said, inferring this is circular route.
The flights depart Kumamoto at 10:30, which provides seamless connectivity with morning flights from Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, Mr Bounma said.
“It means those living around Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka can arrive at Vientiane or Luang Prabang early in the afternoon on the same day as their departure.”
The Airbus A320 flight offers 16 business class seats and 126 economy class seats. Mr Bounma said the economy airfare will be around $750, presumably for a return ticket. Flight time to Vientiane is 4.5 hours to Vientiane.
Mr Bounma said the inaugural QV flight is expected to take off at the end of November, 2019, but the airline has not yet officially applied for the flight service with the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, but stated they would be applying for it in August.
