Vietnam Airlines, the country's national flag carrier, will launch a direct air route from Hanoi capital to Laos' ancient capital city of Luang Prabang on October 30, according to sources from the airlines on Thursday.

The airlines will conduct four flights a week to Luang Prabang, a World Heritage-listed site, the sources said, noting that the ancient capital is the second destination, after Vientiane, in Laos of the airlines.

Luang Prabang is Laos' most attractive tourism site, which has annually received some 150,000 international arrivals, mainly from Europe and Asia. Two air carriers, Lao Airlines and Bangkok Airways, have opened air routes to the locality.

Vietnam's air industry served over 6.3 million domestic and foreign passengers and 104,200 tons of cargoes in 2005, registering year-on-year rises of 23.9 percent and seven percent respectively, according to the country's General Statistics Office.

(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2006)