On December 6, 2024, Hokkaido Prefecture, Hokkaido Airports, and Vietnam Airlines signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) outlining their plan to cooperate toward establishing scheduled air service between Vietnam and Hokkaido.
The MoU was signed at Vietnam Airlines’ celebration of 30 years of service to Japan by Hokkaido’s Vice Governor Motohito Uramoto; Hokkaido Airport’s Executive Director Kenjiro Karahashi, and Vietnam Airlines’ CEO Le Hong Ha.
As part of the partnership, the parties agreed to operate charter flights between Vietnam and Hokkaido, cooperate on promotional activities related to travel between the two destinations, and engaging in other activities contributing to the launch of scheduled flights.
Hokkaido Airports operates seven airports in the prefecture including Sapporo New Chitose, Wakkanai, Kushiro, Hakodate, Asahikawa, Obihiro, and Memanbetsu. Should scheduled service to the prefecture materialize, a route connecting Vietnam with Sapporo is the most likely.
