The Vietnam Aviation Business Association (VABA) on October 7 proposed centrally-run provinces and cities agree on a plan to resume regular commercial passenger flights, especially those from/to Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City from October 10.

Passengers who test negative for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 prior to their flights will not be subject to concentrated quarantine and only be supervised by digital platforms.

Vaccine priority has been given to Hanoi, HCM City and other pandemic-hit localities in order to bring the pandemic under control and quickly resume operations, VABA said.

VABA members have pledged to adhere to COVID-19 preventive measures and stand ready to seek guidance from the People’s Committees of the centrally-run provinces and cities so as to ensure safety, convenience and efficiency.

To date, all airport staff have been fully vaccinated. Airlines are working with hospitals to roll out COVID-19 quick tests for all passengers, who are required to install the PC-COVID app and turn on tracing mode.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) also has proposed the Ministry of Transport re-open 10 domestic air routes from October 10.

In a report to the ministry, CAAV said that as of October 6, six localities completely agreed with its air route resumption plan, namely the provinces of Dien Bien, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, and Thanh Hoa, along with Phu Quoc city in Kien Giang province.

Four others, namely HCM City, Dak Lak, Nghe An, and Thua Thien-Hue provinces, showed partial support while Hanoi, Hai Phong city, and Gia Lai province asked for the suspension of regular commercial flights to continue.

The 10 air routes that could re-opened are between HCM City and; Thanh Hoa, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Phu Quoc, Thua Thien-Hue, and Nghe An. Routes between Thanh Hoa and Khanh Hoa, Buon Ma Thuot city in Dak Lak, and Phu Quoc could also resume.

The air routes will resume only when both airport localities approve. More routes will be added when other localities support the proposal.

Ministry proposes two plans on resuming Hanoi-HCM City flights

The Ministry of Transport has sent a document to the Hanoi People’s Committee, proposing two plans on the resumption of domestic flights between the capacity city and Ho Chi Minh City from October 10.

According to the first plan, there will be two round-trip flights between the two major cities each day.

Meanwhile, there are only four flights from Hanoi to HCM City each day under the second plan.

Apart from observing the Health Ministry’s “5K message” and making health declarations at the locations of departure and arrival, passengers need to be fully vaccinated, with the second dose administered at least 14 days but no more than 12 months prior to departure or show a certificate proving they had recovered from disease no more than six months prior to departure.

Those coming from high-risk areas must present proof of negative COVID-19 testing results using RT-PCR method or rapid tests within 72 hours before departure.

For flights to/from other localities, the Ministry of Transport asked the Hanoi People’s Committee to give detailed opinions.

HCM City and other provinces like Dien Bien, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Kien Giang and Ca Mau have confirmed their readiness to resume flights to/from Hanoi./.

Source: VNA