With a week left until the Government’s scheduled pilot resumption of regular international flights, air transport and airlines have all said they are more than ready but there are some policy issues to be resolved.
Noi Bai International Airport, Hanoi. |
Deputy Minister of Transport Lê Anh Tuấn said on Friday that the Ministry of Transport had directed the Civil Aviation Authority and relevant units to urgently clarify the remaining issues, prepare the conditions so that the reopening from January 1, 2022 will be smooth and convenient for both the airlines and for the passengers, but still, with COVID-19 prevention and control in mind.
Việt Nam is eyeing restoring air links from January 2022 starting first with nine destinationswith a high level of epidemiologic safety: Beijing/Guangzhou (China), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (the Republic of Korea), Taipei (China), Bangkok (Thailand), Singapore, Vientiane (Laos), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), and San Francisco/Los Angeles (United States). This first phase will last for two weeks, involving two major airports in Việt Nam, Tân Sơn Nhất in HCM City and Nội Bài in Hà Nội, with four flights each way.
Tuấn said the transport ministry would send a notification to all relevant provinces and cities on the resumption plan, as well as tell them to manage the quarantine of arrivals using the national COVID-19 app PC-COVID and public security ministry app (IgoVN).
Đinh Việt Sơn, deputy head of the aviation authority, said according to the latest guidelines from the health ministry applicable from next year, partially vaccinated or unvaccinated entrants are to be quarantined at places of residence for seven days upon arrival.
This means that prior to boarding, the passengers will have to show the airport’s staff where they will stay in Việt Nam, but this is a difficult requirement since obtaining local people’s committee’s permission to quarantine at home or a hotel is not at all easy.
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