Domestic airlines will resume regular international flights to eight out of nine countries and territories under the pilot plan to meet the high repatriation demand of overseas Vietnamese for Tet holidays.

Vietnam airlines resume eight regular international routes. Photo: Vietnam Airlines

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has allowed to domestic airlines to operate air routes between Vietnam and Japan, Taiwan (China), Singapore, Cambodia, the US, South Korea, Laos, and Thailand. 

On January 1, Vietnam Airlines operated  flight No. VN853 from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh, the first in its plan of restoring scheduled international air connections.

The next scheduled international flight between Vietnam and Japan is on January 5. Flight VN5310 from Hanoi to Tokyo is priced from US$512 for the one-way trip and $690 for the return trip (including taxes).

The airline has also opened ticket sales for Hanoi - Seoul routes from January 6, Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City-Singapore from January 12, Ho Chi Minh City-Bangkok (Thailand) from January 8 with a weekly frequency of two flights, Hanoi-Vientiane (Laos) from January 9, Hanoi-Taipei (China) from January 11 and Vietnam-US on January 9.

The airline will increase the frequency of flights according to the permission of the authorities and the repatriation needs of Vietnamese tourists and citizens during the high season of the Lunar New Year.

Vietjet Air will also restart flights to foreign destinations, such as Hanoi-Tokyo on January 6, Taipei (China)-Hanoi on January 8, and Taipei (China) -Ho Chi Minh City on January 12.

 Bamboo Airways also relaunched the Hanoi-Taipei (China) route, departing on January 5, 12, 19 and 26.

Passengers from eight markets need to ensure disease prevention requirements, such as having a certificate of negative PCR test for nCoV, taken 72 hours prior boarding or vaccination certificate/vaccine passport or proof of recovery from Covid-19.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has requested the Ministry of Transport to drop pre-flight testing requirements for SARS-CoV-2 for passengers from countries where the Omicron strain is detected before and after the flight.

Earlier, the Vietnamese government has given green light to restore air connections between Vietnam and Beijing/Guangzhou (China), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (South Korea), Taipei/Taiwan (China), Bangkok (Thailand), Singapore, Vientiane (Laos), Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and San Francisco/Los Angeles (the US).

According to the CAAV, in the first three days of restoring international passenger flights to Vietnam, there were 17 flights bringing 1,753 passengers to Vietnam through four international airports of Tan Son Nhat, Noi Bai, Danang and Cantho.

According to the latest decision of Hanoi authority in December 2021, people coming from Omicron-affected countries are allowed to self-isolate instead of undergoing quarantine at centralized facilities as the city first planned.

Incoming people who are fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 will undertake three days of self-isolation and those who are single dosed or unvaccinated will bear one-weak self-isolation either at home or in lodging facilities.