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3 October 2018 by Claire Benktander
It’s been more than 20 years since the UK had a direct route to Japan’s second city, Osaka, a place of spectacular temples and delicate shrines that lie side-by-side with the state-of-the-art modernities for which Japan is so famed. But it will now be easier than ever to reach this spectacular city, often unfairly overlooked in favour of big-name Tokyo, with British Airways' re-opening of this popular route.
The service will begin on 31 March 2019 and will fly four times a week from London Heathrow, with tourism numbers set to rise from 24 million annual visitors in 2016 to 40 million in 2020.
Discover a whole host of exciting new routes, itineraries and possibilities to explore this multi-faceted Asian gem, as many Japan holidays begin in Tokyo and end in Osaka, including our spectacular Essential Japan tailor-made holiday. Before this new route, visitors would often have to fly from Osaka back to Tokyo before going back to London, so it's set to save a significant amount of time. This works particularly well for an open-jaw ticket, flying into Tokyo and out of Osaka or vice versa.
Or, with our Best of Japan itinerary, rather than taking a bullet train back to Tokyo (still available of course) you can fly straight home from Osaka after two weeks of discovery. You'll explore Tokyo’s cutting edge, Kyoto’s history and national parks and finish in Osaka's delights, from the Umeda Sky Building for a stunning overview of the city to Osaka Castle, whose double moated grounds make for atmospheric walks, before nighttime strolls to fine dining restaurants and waterside Dotonbori to take it all in.
