Australian, Asian and European destinations have all been flagged as possible routes Vietnam Airlines will resume. Photo: vietnamplus.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnam Airlines (VNA) has announced plans to restart international commercial flights starting July 15. This is to meet growing demand from Vietnamese citizens that want to study and work abroad and foreigners that want to return home.

Australian, Asian and European destinations have all been flagged as possible routes VNA will resume.

The airline has said it plans to serve the growing travel demand among Vietnamese citizens wishing to study and work abroad as well as stranded foreigners longing to return home.

The service will focus on Vietnamese students and employees abroad as well as expats in Việt Nam.

VNA has said it will be adding flights from HCM City to Sydney that would depart every Thursday and Sunday from July 15 and return flights on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Flights from HCM City to Melbourne would depart every Tuesday from July 20 with return flights every Thursday.

On European routes, VNA will resume flights between Hà Nội to Frankfurt and Hà Nội to London departing July 25, July 28 and August 21 and return flights on July 26, July 29 and August 22.  

Hà Nội to London flights are set to resume on August 13 and September 2 on returning August 14 and September 3.

In Asia the airline will resume flights from Hà Nội to Tokyo every Wednesday and Saturday from July 17 and HCMC to Bangkok every Wednesday from August 1.

It will also resume flights from Tokyo to HCMC every Thursday from the first day of August.

The carrier has said it will only carry Vietnamese nationals or foreign experts with permission to enter the country.

Việt Nam is yet to open its doors to foreign tourists.

In March, 2020, the country closed its borders and canceled all international flights to control the COVID-19 pandemic. It has only allowed certain categories of visitors into the country with strict quarantine requirements including 21 day quarantine periods.

Vietnam Airlines was recently certified with a 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating for the safety measures and improved hygiene processes introduced by the firm to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

Skytrax COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating is the global assessment and certification of airline health and safety measures during the coronavirus pandemic. It has been based on professional and scientific investigation of the standards being provided by the airline.

The Skytrax COVID-19 Airline Safety Accreditation is regarded as a global benchmark for evaluating COVID-19 safe travel.

Vietnam Airlines encourages their guests to “Travel with Confidence” having conducted a broad risk assessment across all major customer touchpoints. 

As of July 12, the country has had more than 30,000 cases of COVID-19. There have been 123 fatalities reported from the pandemic. — VNS