Vietnam halts incoming passenger flights

Inbound flights to Vietnam are temporarily halted pending guidance from the Ministry of Health on the process of passenger isolation, Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) Vo Huy Cuong told local media.

A Vietnam Airlines airplane at Noi Bai airport. Photo: Vietnam Airlines

Almost a month after the restoration of international air transport thanks to the initial containment of Covid-19, Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat, the country’s biggest international airports, remain desolate. The two airports have been approved to welcome thousands of passengers from six countries and territories each week, including Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (South Korea), Guangzhou (China) and Taipei (Taiwan, China), from September 15 and from September 22. Air connections Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and Vientiane (Laos) will resume with a maximum frequency of two flights per week for Vietnamese airlines and their partners per route.

However, during the last 20 days, there were only two flights from Hanoi to Tokyo (Japan) and Seoul (South Korea) to Hanoi with about 300 passengers. The poor preparation of hotels for paid isolation and the collection of isolation fees from Vietnamese citizens are to blame for the harsh resumption of international flights, according to the CAAV.

Mr. Hoang Minh Duc, deputy director of the General Department of the Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, said that representatives from the ministries of Transport, Foreign Affairs and Health had met to list all problems arising after the first two pilot flights.

Mr. Duc said that the preparation of the hotels and collecting quarantine fees is just one of many problems that need to be solved. “The working group of the Ministry of Health is working on a unified isolation process applicable to the whole country. The process is expected to be completed in three days and submitted to the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control for approval,” said Mr. Duc.

During the flight from Seoul to Ho Chi Minh City on September 30, some passengers shouted and protested after landing at Tan Son Nhat airport due to disagreement on the fees of isolation at hotels. A similar incident happened five days earlier. Many passengers complained about the hotel isolation fee of VND28 million (US$1,211) for 14 days which they said was too expensive. They hoped to be isolated in affordable locations at a more economical expenses.