The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has proposed a plan to reopen frequent international air routes to China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, and Laos in mid-September.

All passengers of these routes will undergo government-mandated 14-day quarantine following their arrival in the Southeast Asian country, according to the proposal.

To prevent overcrowding at local quarantine facilities, flights along these air routes will be evenly distributed throughout the week.

Their schedule will be arranged so that no two international flights will land at one airport in Vietnam on the same day, CAAV said.

The CAAV has worked with authorities in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, and Laos and agreed on plans to reopen air routes to these destinations on September 15.

Accordingly, Vietnam and China have consented on operating one return flight between Ho Chi Minh City and Guangzhou every Monday.

The weekly number of passengers arriving and quarantined in Ho Chi Minh City on this route will be capped at 540.

Japan has proposed operating a minimum of two flights per week each way with Vietnam.

The CAAV suggested that the Hanoi-Tokyo service and the Ho Chi Minh City-Tokyo route be operated once every week each way.

The numbers of passengers arriving and quarantined in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City every week are to be limited to 560 for each city.

Aviation authorities in Vietnam and South Korea have agreed to operate one return flight between Hanoi and Seoul and one return service between Ho Chi Minh City and Seoul every week.

About 650 passengers will be quarantined in each of the two Vietnamese cities after arriving on these routes on a weekly basis.

Regarding the Vietnam-Taiwan flights, both sides are expected to operate one return flight along the Hanoi-Taipei route and one return flight along the Ho Chi Minh City-Taipei route each week.

The maximum number of quarantined passengers is 620 per week in Hanoi and 700 per week in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam and Cambodia have consented on operating the Can Tho-Phnom Penh route at one two-way flight per week, with 400 passengers expected to land in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho weekly.

Laotian authorities have yet to respond to the CAAV’s proposed plan on reopening routes between the two countries.

If they agree to the scheme, a maximum of 350 passengers are expected to enter Hanoi every week.

If all of these plans are carried out, up to 2,200 passengers will arrive in Hanoi, 2,450 in Ho Chi Minh City, and 400 in Can Tho City on a weekly basis from the international destinations.

Vietnam began barring entry to foreign nationals on March 22 and suspended international flights from March 25 in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19. 

Since then, international flights to the country have only been arranged to bring in experts, skilled workers, and diplomats, and to repatriate Vietnamese citizens stranded in other nations and territories due to the pandemic.

Vietnam has documented 1,046 COVID-19 cases, with 768 having recovered and 35 deaths as of Friday afternoon.

The country started charging international arrivals for the cost of their mandatory 14-day quarantine from September 1.

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