Aviation authorities propose ‘travel bubble’ scheme to resume international flights

The CAAV said in a recent proposal to the Transport Ministry regular flights to and from certain safe countries should be resumed at the end of July, without specifically mentioning which country. A country is defined as safe if it does not record community transmission in 30 consecutive days.

Passengers need to have stayed in this country for at least 30 days and need to provide a certificate showing they tested negative for the virus within three days before flights. Transit passengers are not allowed.

Upon arrival in Vietnam passengers will need to undergo a quick test paid for by the airline. They will then be quarantined for 14 days at a paying facility appointed by authorities.

Businesspeople, experts, students and tourists should be eligible for this "travel bubble" scheme, the CAAV proposed.

Dinh Viet Thang, CAAV director, said some Taiwan airlines have proposed to resume flights to Vietnam. Local airlines are also ready to resume international flights, he added.

Vietnam, which has gone 74 days without community transmission, is now allowing experts and high-skilled workers to enter the country with a 14-day mandatory quarantine. Tourists, however, are still banned from entering the country.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said last week Vietnam was not yet ready to open up to international tourists, and authorities need to prevent a second wave of the novel coronavirus from breaking locally.

Some ASEAN countries, such as Singapore and Thailand, are considering setting up "travel bubbles" to resume their own tourism activities.