Vietnam plans 13 repatriation flights for next month

The Consular Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed there may be two flights from Japan and Taiwan on March 5, with each carrying 343 passengers, Giao Thong newspaper reported.

On March 6, two flights from the Philippines and Malaysia are expected to carry 240 passengers home each. A day later, one flight from Singapore with 360 passengers is scheduled to arrive in Vietnam.

On March 8, there will be two flights from the U.S. and France, returning a total of over 700 passengers.

From March 9 to 14, a total six flights will bring over 2,000 Vietnamese from UAE, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Russia home.

Vietnam has suspended all inbound international commercial flights since March 2020, though the government has been operating repatriation flights to bring home Vietnamese citizens stuck abroad amid the pandemic, and has allowed special flights to carry foreign experts and investors to the country.

The government in late January limited inbound flights in light of new variants of the novel coronavirus spreading fast in many countries. Only special cases approved by the government can enter the country.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said Thursday the ministry is mapping out a plan to bring stranded Vietnamese home in line with the global pandemic situation, as well as domestic isolation capacity.

Over 75,000 Vietnamese were repatriated last year.