Vietnam Airlines to operate two direct flights to US amid pandemic chaos

One would leave at 9:45 a.m. on May 2 and arrive in San Francisco at 10:00 a.m. local time, and the other will depart at 6:20 a.m. on May 10 and land in Washington, D.C., at 1:00 p.m. local time, the U.S. embassy announced.

The fare would depend on the number of passengers and could be higher than a normal one-way ticket, it said, calling for citizens who need departure assistance to register with the embassy by Tuesday afternoon.

Vietnam has suspended all international flights as a containment measure against Covid-19 and thousands of foreigners are stuck in the country.

Some special flights have been operated in recent weeks to repatriate Europeans and citizens of several Southeast Asian countries.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a Category 1 rating to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam under its International Aviation Safety Assessment program in 2019, meaning it met safety standards to operate flights to the U.S.

Vietnam Airlines got the green light to operate direct flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to several American destinations in September last year. No such a flight under the permit has been scheduled.