The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on January 21 announced its plan to resume more regular international flights between Vietnam and European countries, including Russia, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

Accordingly, the first flights will depart right next week, on January 24. The resumption remains pending approval by authorities and will be updated by Vietnam Airlines to passengers.

The carrier plans to resume regular flights between Hanoi and Moscow with the frequency of one flight a week, with the first being scheduled to take off on January 29.

Vietnam's national flag carrier will resume more regular international flights to Europe. Photo: Vietnam Airlines

From February 8, flights from Hanoi to Moscow will depart every Friday and from Moscow back on Saturday every week.

For the remaining destinations in Europe, Vietnam Airlines plans to resume regular flights from Hanoi to London on January 24, which will make a stopover in Paris.

On January 27, the carrier will relaunch regular service between Hanoi and Frankfurt.

The national flag carrier also advises passengers to find out information and comply with safety regulations at their destination such as the medical declaration, Covid-19 testing, vaccination, or recovery status.

Fully vaccinated people and those who have recovered from Covid-19 arriving in Vietnam only need to self-isolate for three days.

Everyone, except children below two, must have tested negative for the novel coronavirus using the PCR method within 72 hours before departure.

However, due to the emergence of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, all passengers are also required to undergo a rapid test on arrival at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat International Airports.

Earlier, Dinh Viet Thang, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), said his agency has been seeking approval from the Ministry of Transport to discuss the resumption of regular commercial flights with aviation authorities in the four European countries as there is a huge demand for repatriation during the upcoming Tet holiday among Vietnamese living in Europe.

Statistics from the CAAV showed that around 140,000 overseas Vietnamese wish to return home to celebrate the traditional festival, which peaks on February 1 and it is forecast the number of passengers flying to Vietnam would exceed 30,000 a week, including foreign experts and diplomats.

After the Vietnamese Government approved a two-week first phase of resumption of flights to nine destinations starting January 1, the CAAV has granted flight slots for domestic carriers to  Bangkok, Phnom Penh, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo.