According to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the number of passengers in the first half of the year saw a significant increase of 29.2% year on year to surpass 56 million, accounting for 48.2% of the targeted plan for 2023.

It is expected that the total Vietnamese aviation market will reach 55 million passengers by the end of this year, an increase of 3.7 times compared to the previous year, recovering by nearly 70 per cent compared to 2019, pre-COVID-19 pandemic.

The Transport Ministry has informed to the Prime Minister of a suspension of the approval procedure for the IPP Air Cargo JSC at the request of the carrier’s investor.

The number of passengers passing through local airports reached 90.8 million during the initial 11 months of this year, up 221% compared to the same period last year, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

German airline Lufthansa Cargo announced on November 24 that it will begin operating its first direct flight from Frankfurt in Germany to Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi.

The total number of air passengers passing through domestic airports will reach 80 per cent of the peak number of passengers in 2019, said Dinh Viet Thang, director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

Vietnamese airports are expected to serve 100 million passengers this year, compared to the pre-pandemic level of 120 million recorded in 2019, said Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam Dinh Viet Thang.

Hanoi Mayor Tran Sy Thanh said now is the time to think of building private airports specifically reserved for carrying goods, which would attract foreign investors to manufacture semiconductor chips.

Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways are set to resume more domestic and international air routes, add flights and launch new services to meet the rising travel demand as the country will fully reopen tourism on March 15.

Vietnam has so far reopened air routes to 20 countries and territories, compared to 28 in the 2019 winter flight schedule before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, a transport official has said.

Air and rail carriers, which have suffered heavily from Covid-19, have had to carry cargo to earn extra money. But sea shipping lines are experiencing brighter days.

Passengers, including children, wishing to fly on domestic routes are no longer required to undergo a COVID-19 test at the airport even when they have not received a single vaccine dose.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has asked agencies to continue conducting rapid testing for all air passengers upon entry to Vietnam, who are from or have transitted in countries with new cases of Omicron.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh has asked the Ministry of Transport to thoroughly review the content of its draft master plan on the development of airports nationwide from 2021 – 2030, and prepare to report it to permanent government members.

The Ministry of Transport is also working with the Ministry of Information and Communications on the tracking of passengers’ travel history via app PC-COVID.

In the trial reopening of domestic route, airlines can fly with 10 percent of capacity and passengers must show written commitments on anti-pandemic measures.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has proposed that the Ministry of Transport consider the gradual reopening of regular international commercial flights in four stages starting in the fourth quarter of this year.

Unvaccinated people and their children can now travel by air provided that they show proof of a negative Covid-19 test result taken within 72 hours before departure or recovered from the disease within the last six months.

The Ministry of Transport has allowed to increase frequency of domestic flights, including those in the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City air route.