Aviation authorities seek to resume flights

Accordingly, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CCAV) sought opinions of 19 cities and provinces on the plan, comprising Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Can Tho, Quang Ninh, Nghe An, Dien Bien, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Lam Dong, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang and Ca Mau.

The HCM City People’s Committee on October 4 sent a document to the CCAV, basically agreeing with the draft plan. Such provinces as Binh Dinh, Dien Bien and Phu Yen have also expressed their approval for the resumption.

In a document sent to the CCAV on October 4, the Hanoi People’s Committee said the agency should launch flights to/from Noi Bai International Airport once receiving written agreements of the People’s Committees of Hanoi and its adjacent cities and provinces.

The CCAV suggested resuming 385 round-trip flights per day, with 18 air routes to HCM City (132 flights) and 10 others to the central city of Danang.

According to the plan outlined by the Ministry of Transport, in the first phase, to be carried within 10 days, airlines would resume air routes with a flight frequency not exceeding half that in the first 10 days of April, the time before the fourth coronavirus wave broke out in Vietnam.

Seats on the planes must be distanced as well. In the second phase, to last for no more than 10 days, the frequency would be increased to not exceed 70 percent. No seat distancing is required. The third phase would see the flight frequency return to the level as seen in the first 10 days of April (but not exceeding it), with no seat distancing required.

The final phase would see airlines resume activities as normal. Air routes that had only one flight a day even pre-pandemic can resume operations as normal in the first and second phases, with seat distancing required.

Passengers must follow the “5K message”, make health declaration, and present a negative COVID-19 test result issued within 72 hours before departure. However, the passengers who got the first shot three weeks ago, or those who were fully vaccinated or recovered from the disease within six months are exempt from COVID-19 testing. 

Amid a raging COVID-19 outbreak, in late August aviation authorities instructed airlines to stop selling tickets until further notice. In the fourth wave that began in late April the country has recorded over 800,000 COVID-19 cases.