SPRING Airlines, China's first budget carrier, will fly to its second Japanese city next month as part of a plan to operate six routes between the two countries by the end of this year to meet rising tourism demand.

The airline will fly Shanghai to Kagawa on Shikoku island four times weekly from March 27, using an Airbus A320 jet. Tickets will start at 239 yuan (US$35) for a single trip, the carrier said yesterday. Kagawa is about 200 kilometers, or a three-hour drive, away from Osaka.

''We plan to operate six routes linking China and Japan by the end of this year, and Hokkaido is expected to be the third destination after Ibaraki and Kagawa,'' said Sun Zhencheng, director of the carrier's Japanese market department, yesterday.