Vietnam Airlines to resume commercial flights to Asian destinations this week

The national flag carrier said flights from Hanoi to South Korea's Incheon City will depart every Thursday while there will have seven flights from Hanoi to Japan's Narita City in April, with the first scheduled to depart on April 3.

The carrier will also operate one flight from Hanoi to Australia's Sydney every Saturday, while flights from HCMC to Sydney would depart every Thursday and Sunday.

On return trips, the carrier would only carry Vietnamese citizens being repatriated or foreign experts with permission to enter the country. Vietnam is yet to open its doors to foreign tourists.

A representative of the carrier said the resumption of these international routes are meant to meet growing travel demand of Vietnamese citizens wishing to study and work abroad as well as stranded foreigners longing to return home.

In addition to these routes, the national flag carrier is planning to operate inbound commercial flights to carry passengers from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, but is awaiting the government's approval for this move.

Vietnam closed national borders and canceled all international flights in March last year. Since then, only Vietnamese repatriates, foreign experts and highly-skilled workers are being allowed in with stringent conditions.

Vietnam Airlines had said earlier that it is awaiting approval from the U.S. government to launch regular direct flights to that country.

Vietnamese aviation authorities Wednesday proposed allowing vaccinated foreign passengers into the country from September without requiring centralized quarantine.