Vietnam Airlines resumes all domestic flight services

Vietnam Airlines has resumed all domestic flights, according to local media reports.

The airline says the number of domestic flights exceeded 300 per day as of Friday. The number of flights, including cargo service, now exceeds 350 a day, nearly the same as last year.

Vietnam lifted a curfew on April 23, and since then the country’s economy has been returning to normal. The government also intends to reopen the country to international flights.

Since the number of Vietnamese travelers is steadily recovering, the airline in May established five new routes, and the carrier plans to launch another six routes this month.

Meanwhile, the country’s largest low-cost airline, VietJet Air, has resumed flying all 45 of its domestic routes. Bamboo Airways, which began flying last year, has also normalized its domestic schedule.

While the curfew was in effect, the country’s airlines cut back on the number of flights along major routes, such as Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City.

No date has been set for the resumption of international flights, which were suspended in late March, but Vietnam could open its skies sooner than other Southeast Asian nations.

The government is considering what countries and regions it should approve for flights.

On Monday, Pham Binh Minh, deputy prime minister and foreign minister, and Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi agreed to start discussing the possibility of resuming flights between their countries for business travelers. Korean airlines are also preparing to reopen their Vietnam routes.

Vietnam, which has a population of 96 million, has had about 330 coronavirus patients and no deaths.

With strict quarantine measures still in place, the country has gone approximately 50 days without recording a new case, except for foreign visitors.

Nikkei Asian Review – June 2, 2020