Authority proposes increasing flights to Japan, RoK, Taiwan

A plane of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi– The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has proposed the Ministry of Transport increase the frequency of flights to Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), and Taiwan (China), given the great demand for returning home among overseas Vietnamese.

CAAV Director Dinh Viet Thang cited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying that more than 140,000 overseas Vietnamese people are planning to return to the homeland.

Airlines shared the view that it is necessary to increase flights linking with some markets with high demand such as Japan, the RoK, and Taiwan, he noted.

Thang said after the Ministry of Health had issued guidance on anti-pandemic measures, the CAAV on December 17 sent official documents to aviation authorities of Japan, the RoK, Taipei (Taiwan, China), China, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. These are the destinations with which the Prime Minister has agreed to resume commercial passenger flights.

It proposed four flights to Vietnam per week for each side while flights from Vietnam follow current regulations, starting January 1, 2022, and the frequency will be adjusted basing on the COVID-19 situation.

Meanwhile, as only Vietnam Airlines has been flying to the US and got licensed by both countries’ authorities, this carrier can immediately conduct regular flights as schedule.

Apart from the US, Japan, Taipei (Taiwan), Singapore, and Cambodia have agreed with Vietnam’s proposal so far.

Regarding the emergence of Omicron, the CAAV said all the nine markets Vietnam plans to resume regular international flights with in the first phase (China, Japan, the RoK, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, and the US) have recorded this new variant, and that new rules on Omicron control will affect all the flights that have been being operated.

The CAAV will negotiate with foreign partners to update information about rapid COVID-19 tests for passengers before getting on planes. At Vietnamese airports, it will assign the Airports Corporation of Vietnam to work with local health authorities to carry out tests, and passengers will have to pay for the tests by themselves.

In terms of the first Omicron case in Vietnam confirmed on December 27 by the Health Ministry, the Hanoi-based Central Military Hospital 108 said the patient is in stable health condition and haven’t shown any symptoms.

This passenger flew from the UK and arrived at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on December 19 evening. The patient was sent to the hospital’s quarantine area after testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 at the airport.