Travellers between Australia and Japan can enjoy new daily, direct flights between Melbourne (MEL) and Tokyo (NRT) starting Dec. 16. Qantas plans to serve the route with an upgraded, 297-seat Airbus A330-300. The new route follows additional Qantas service to Tokyo, from Sydney (SYD) and Brisbane (BNE). Australia is a popular leisure destination for Japanese travellers, with visitors growing by 17 per cent in the last fiscal year. Similarly, outbound travel from Australia to Japan is growing, with a 24 per cent increase last year. “We’re delighted to be stepping up our commitment to the Japanese market at a boom time for tourism and business travel,” said Gareth Evans, CEO, international and freight, Qantas. “The Qantas Group is perfectly placed to support the resurgent growth we’re seeing, with the biggest Australia-Japan network, the biggest domestic network in Australia and the biggest low-cost carrier network in Japan through Jetstar. Our dual-brand strategy and the size of our fleet means we have the ability to move quickly to meet demand where it’s strongest, putting the right aircraft on the right route.  We have received great feedback on the world-class product we’ve created for our Airbus A330 fleet, and now even more customers flying to Japan will be able to enjoy the reconfigured aircraft. We lifted Qantas’ capacity on Asian routes by 17 per cent last financial year, so this is very much part of a larger pivot to Asia.” Flights on the new route are available for booking today, and passengers booked on similar routes from Australia to Tokyo can change their flights to the new route by contacting Qantas customer support.