The repatriations will take place from May 18 to June 15, picking up Vietnamese citizens from countries and territories including Australia, Canada, South Korea, the U.K. and the U.S. Each flight is expected to have 150-343 passengers on board.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam is currently discussing the repatriation with several airlines, but most of them would be operated by national carrier Vietnam Airlines, a representative said.
These flights would land in Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport, HCMC's Tan Son Nhat Airport, the Van Don International Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh or the Can Tho International Airport in the Mekong Delta’s Can Tho City.
The exact schedules and additional details would be informed to passengers following approval from the National Steering Committee for the Prevention and Control of Covid-19 and authorization by relevant countries and territories.
In the last few months, several special flights have already repatriated thousands of Vietnamese from several countries and territories including Canada, France, Japan, Russia, the UAE and the U.S. Passengers paid their own fares.
A special Vietnam Airlines flight will bring around 300 Vietnamese home from the U.S. this Friday. This will be the second flight to repatriate citizens from the U.S., following one that brought back 340 on May 8, making history as the first Vietnamese carrier to flight directly to and from the U.S.
Vietnam has recorded 288 Covid-19 cases so far, of which 28 are active. No community transmission has been recorded in the last four weeks.