The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will conduct 12 direct flights to repatriate stranded overseas Vietnamese people from the US this year, which is under the US Government's approval made on June 8. 

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA)’s license is the most important legal condition for the 12 flights to take off, meeting the increasing demand of many Vietnamese people living in the US. 

A direct flight from Vietnam to the US has been in discussion for a long time. Photo: Vietnam Airlines

Vietnam Airlines has been the first and only Vietnamese air carrier that has been granted a license by TSA to fly to the US.

To gain the license, Vietnam Airlines said it had actively worked with other authorities such as the US Department of Transportation (DOT), the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) and other aviation authorities for flying to America.

The first flight is expected to depart on June 22 from Hanoi to Washington D.C., with stopover in Alaska and return to Vietnam on June 24.

All the Covid-19 countermeasures are taken by the airline in accordance with the highest safety standards to prevent the risk of disease infection on the flight.

In 2020, Vietnam Airlines operated more than 20 flights between Vietnam and the US to bring back repatriated Vietnamese experts and goods.

Vietnam Airlines said it expected to operate commercial flights between Vietnam and the US as of 2020, however, it will depend on the recovery of the global aviation market as well as the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic.