Vietnam Airlines will launch direct flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Germany’s Frankfurt and Japan’s Nagoya in July this year, an airline official said Wednesday. 
Currently, the HCMC-Frankfurt route still has a stopover in Moscow, Russia, said Le Hong Ha, a senior Vietnam Airlines official, Jan. 12.

He said the national flag carrier was also planning to lease more Boeing 767 airliners to increase flights between the Vietnam and Japan route.

Early last year, officials said the airline would likely launch direct flights to the U.S. in late 2005 or early 2006.

Last December, Vietnam Airlines confirmed it had agreed to buy four wide-bodied Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner jets at a sticker price of about 500 million USD as part of its expansion plan.