Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways have announced that they are ready to resume international air services to destinations where the coronavirus has been contained, likely from July 1, if authorized by the government.  

Vietnam's airlines prepare to reopen international flights from July 1. Photo: Vietnam Airlines.

At a seminar on the aviation market held on June 12, Nguyen Quang Trung, head of Vietnam Airlines’ Development Planning Department, confirmed that the airline is ready to reopen international routes if permitted by the Vietnamese government and other countries.

Vietnam Airlines has prepared outbound flights over the past two months. It has set up a task force for each region, market, flight route to assign resources, flight crew, cabin crew, and work out commercial policies. 

The national flag carrier expects to resume flights to South Korea, Taiwan (China), Hong Kong (China), and some Southeast Asian countries from July.

For South Korea, Vietnam Airlines plans to re-operate the Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City - Seoul routes with seven flights per week while the routes of Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi to Hong Kong (China) and Taiwan (China) as of July 1 will be operated with three to four flights each.

Startup airline Bamboo Airways has also announced that it plans to fly from Hanoi to Taipei, Kaohsiung (Taiwan-China) and Incheon (South Korea) with the frequency of seven flights a week, starting July 1. 

From September 1, the airline plans to operate more flights from Danang and Cam Ranh to South Korea's Incheon with a frequency of 14 flights per week. 

By October 25, Bamboo Airways will launch 10 outbound routes including those to Melbourne (Australia) and Prague (Czech).

Vietjet Air is planning to resume its international routes. Photo: Vietjet Air.

Vietjet Air is also planning to resume its international routes. On June 13, Vietjet Air announced that Thai Vietjet is the first and only airline to have confirmed to resume operation of the route between Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) and Phuket from June 13. It followed the announcement of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) about re-opening Phuket International airport to domestic flights starting from June 13.

All domestic airlines are working closely with the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the Ministries of Transport, Foreign Affairs, and Health to devise plans for resuming international flights in line with government guidelines.

On June 10, the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention Control was asked to list safe travel zones which include countries and territories having gone through 30 days without reporting infection, as well as instructing isolation for passengers upon entry.

Vietnam has grounded international flights since late March to prevent Covid-19 infection.