Vietnam Airlines, the national flag carrier, took a flight on May 6 to bring back Vietnamese citizens to the home country after fulfilling all procedures required by the US side, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Vietnam Airlines is licensed to repatriate Vietnamese citizens. Photo: Vietnam Airlines

The flight had been initially scheduled for May 2 but it was postponed due to incomplete procedures required in the US.

The postponement left a number of Vietnamese people stranded at San Francisco International Airport and the Consulate General of Vietnam in San Francisco supported those in trouble, the ministry said in a release.

To make the flight possible, Vietnamese missions worked with related agencies in the US since mid-April, the ministry said, adding that passengers are children under 18, students having no dormitories, the elderly, the sick, and people of emergency cases.

The ministry advises Vietnamese citizens to closely follow precautions by the local authorities and Vietnamese missions when waiting for flights returning to the country.

In cases of emergency, Vietnamese authorities will be reached by phone at 001.202.716.8666/001.202.999.6938/ 001.202.999.6589 (the Embassy of Vietnam in the US), 001.415.619.2951/ 001.415.319.5446 (the General Consulate of Vietnam in San Francisco), 001.346.775.0555 (the General Consulate of Vietnam in Houston), and +84.981.84.84.84 of Immigration Department.