Asiana Airlines, the Republic of Korea's second largest airline in terms of revenue, announced on December 17 that it opened a direct air route from the East Asian country to Nha Trang city in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa.

By expanding into the Vietnamese market, the move is expected to increase competition among airlines from the Republic of Korea (RoK).

Asiana Airlines stated that its first flight to the new destination departed from Incheon on December 16, the RoK's main airport and located to the west of Seoul.

The airline is set to put daily flights into operation each evening via Airbus A320 aircraft, which is able to accommodate a total of 159 seats.

This new route will boost the total number of air routes that Asiana Airlines operates to Vietnam to five, including to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Elsewhere, low-cost carrier Air Seoul, a subsidiary of Asiana Airlines, also plans to launch flights to Nha Trang city, starting from December 18.

At present, the Korean Air Lines Co. Ltd is the RoK’s largest airline, while budget airlines T'way Air Co., Eastar Jet Co., and Jeju Air Co, have already operated flights to the country's coastal city.