The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has just proposed a plan to resume international commercial flights.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has proposed a plan to resume international commercial flights. Illustrative photo
In their proposal sent to the Ministry of Transport on November 3, CAAV set our four phases for the resumption of international flights.
In the first phase which will start in the fourth quarter of this year, the flights will only serve Vietnamese citizens going to or returning from overseas and foreign tourists booking package tours. There will be flights between Vietnam and some markets including Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China), Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, France, Germany, Russia and Australia. Passengers must show a negative Covid-19 testing result taken within 72 hours prior to entry. Those who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will have to quarantine for seven days and those who haven't received the vaccine will have to quarantine for 14 days.
The second phase will start from January 2022 and receive passengers from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, France, Germany, Russia, Australia, Laos, Cambodia, and the United Kingdom. Passengers will follow the same requirements for Covid-19 prevention as applied in phase one.
The third phase will start from April 2022 with more flights to more countries. No quarantine will be needed if a vaccine passport model is in use while those who haven't received the vaccine will still have to quarantine for 14 days.
The last phase will start from July 2022 when all the flights will be resumed to all markets and passengers will still follow health requirements from local authorities for Covid-19 prevention.
Vietnam closed its doors to foreign tourists and cancelled all international flights in March last year to contain Covid-19, allowing only Vietnamese repatriates and foreign experts and highly-skilled workers to enter.
The country now only operates one-way flights to carry passengers from Vietnam to Asian and European destinations.