Vietnam Airlines will start direct air flight to Frankfurt of Germany on June 20, aiming to increase foreign visitors to the country.

The national flag carrier will initially operate two flights from Hanoi and one from Ho Chi Minh City to Frankfurt and vice versa every week, said a press release issued by the Vietnam Airlines on Tuesday.

The direct flights will save passengers around 5 hours compared to the existing routes between the two destinations, which require a transit in Russia, said the carrier.

The Vietnam Airlines is also negotiating with Lufthansa to provide code-sharing services on the Germany-Vietnam route, scheduled to begin this winter.

Vietnam received 70,000 German visitors last year, a year-on-year growth of about 70 percent.

Vietnam Airlines plans to open direct flights to the United States in mid-2006. It is negotiating with Japan, South Korea, and Chinese Taiwan about stopover. In recent years, the number of US visitors to Vietnam has annually increased by 15-20 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2005)