Aviation agency unveils detailed plans for flight resumption to 6 Asian destinations

Vietnamese aviation authorities have prepared detailed plans for resuming commercial flights to some Northeast and Southeast Asian destinations this month.

Dinh Viet Thang, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV), said the Ministry of Transport and other relevant agencies will submit the plans on Thursday to the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, asking for flights to be reconnected to Guangzhou, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, and Cambodia and Laos.

Once the services resume on September 15 all foreign passengers will be quarantined on arrival.

Around 5,000 people are expected to fly into Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City every week.

There will be two weekly round trips on the HCMC-Guangzhou (China) sector.

Vietnam Airlines or Pacific Airlines will operate one of them and a Chinese carrier, the other.

There will be two weekly services on the Hanoi-Tokyo and two HCMC-Tokyo routes, with Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air allocated one sector each.

On the South Korea route, Vietnam Airlines will fly to Seoul from Hanoi and Vietjet Air from HCMC, both once a week.

Vietnam Airlines is scheduled to fly on the HCMC-Taipei (Taiwan) sector, and Vietjet Air the Hanoi-Taipei route.

To Laos and Cambodia, aviation authorities have proposed one flight a week by Vietnam Airlines.

According to the CAAV proposal, passengers arriving in Vietnam must have been in these Asian destinations for at least 30 days prior to boarding the flight. Transit passengers will not be allowed in.

Passengers must furnish a certificate showing they tested negative for the coronavirus within three days before departure.

On arrival, they would undergo rapid testing for Covid-19 with the costs covered by the airlines. They will have to pay for their quarantine.

The CAAV has petitioned the Ministry of Health to announce quarantine requirements for passengers upon entry and publish a list of real-time PCR labs in the country for foreign passengers since they might need a Covid-19 testing certificate before leaving Vietnam.

Vietnam suspended all international flights on March 25. Many foreigners who have been kept out of Vietnam due to travel restrictions have pleaded with the government to reopen the borders and resume international flights so that they could reunite with their families.

China, Japan and South Korea are Vietnam’s biggest foreign investors and also send the largest number of tourists to the country.

Vietnam has had 1,046 Covid-19 cases and 34 deaths so far.

By Doan Loan – VnExpress.net – September 3, 2020