Vietnam will pilot the reopening of 19 flight routes between October 10-20 after their suspension due to Covid-19.
Vietnam will pilot the reopening of 19 flight routes between October 10-20 after a suspension period for Covid-19 prevention. Illustrative photo
According to an announcement released on Friday evening by the Ministry of Transport, there will be 38 flights a day connecting some key economic centres such as HCM City with 28 flights per day, Hanoi six flights per day, and some others.
The 28 flights from HCM City will connect Binh Dinh, Danang, Hue, Khanh Hoa, Nghe An, Phu Yen, Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Thanh Hoa, Hai Phong, Phu Quoc, Gia Lai, and Rach Gia.
From Hanoi, there will be flights to HCM City, Danang, and Can Tho. Danang will have flights to Can Tho and Dak Lak and there will also be a flight route from Thanh Hoa to Lam Dong.
All passengers are required to have two Covid-19 vaccine jabs, with the second taken at least 14 days before boarding the plane; or having recovered from Covid-19 within six months.
Passengers must also test negative for Covid-19 via the PCR method within 72 hours before departure. They must also use the Covid-19 tracking app (PC COVID) during the flight.
At a Friday meeting that discussed flight reopening with Deputy PM Le Van Thanh, authorities in Hanoi proposed to apply a quarantine period of seven days to all passengers arriving in the city.
The Vietnam Aviation Business Association (VABA) earlier called on cities and provinces to facilitate the operation of regular domestic flights.
According to VABA, the high vaccination rate in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other localities will help reduce the probability of infection and the risk of death.
VABA reported that the revenue of airlines had decreased to less than 10% compared to the pre-pandemic period. The prolonged coronavirus has caused daily losses of more than VND500 billion for the aviation industry and the tourism industry to lose nearly VND2,000 billion a day.