Carriers increase international flights following full tourism reopening

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) also expects the global passenger demand to reach 61 percent of the pre-crisis levels this year.

Bamboo Airways this month launched new routes from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne, and Hanoi to Frankfurt. The budget carrier plans to expand its international routes to 40 in the time ahead.

It will also launch the Hanoi-London and the HCM City-Sydney routes from March 22 with two weekly flights.

In Northeast Asia, Bamboo Airways increased its frequency to two weekly flights on each of the Hanoi-Tokyo, Hanoi-Taipei (Taiwan, China), and Hanoi-Incheon (The Republic of Korea) routes.

It will soon open flights between HCM City and Japan, Taipei and the RoK and has begun selling tickets for the HCM City-Bangkok and HCM City-Singapore flights that will take off this month.

The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines said it will operate 97 flights each week from late March, adding it will resume regular services from Singapore to Da Nang with three weekly flights and one weekly flight from tourist beach cities of Phu Quoc and Nha Trang to Singapore each from April 15.

Early July, the carrier will resume its services to China with six flights a week and Indonesia with three. It also plans to reopen commercial flights connecting Da Nang and Nha Trang, and Japan and the RoK, raising the number of international flights to 160.

Aircraft at Noi Bai Airport (Photo: VNA)

The Vietnamese Government on March 15 issued a resolution on visa waivers for citizens from 13 countries namely Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Russia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Belarus.

Citizens of the above-mentioned countries will enjoy 15 days of visa-free travel in Vietnam beginning from their date of entry regardless of their kind of passport and entry purpose, on the basis of satisfying all conditions as prescribed by Vietnamese law.

The resolution is to stay in effect for a period of three years until at least March 14, 2025, with a renewal to be reviewed by relevant authorities in accordance with Vietnamese law.

According to the Ministry of Health, travellers entering Vietnam via air routes (except for children under two years old) only need to present proof of negative SARS-CoV-2 tests done within 72 hours prior to departure in cases of RT-PCR/RT-LAMP or within 24 hours in cases of rapid antigen tests, and the results must be certified by relevant authorities of the country where the tests are conducted.

Those entering via road, sea, and rail will be subject to the same requirements if their travel time is short. However, those who plan to make a long trip will need to undergo testing at border gates before entering Vietnam. If the test results are positive, they must follow guidelines of the Health Ministry.

No COVID-19 testing and mandatory quarantine are required for air travellers after their arrival. However, they must make health declaration via tokhaiyte.vn before departure and install the PC-Covid app.