Transport ministry proposes reducing flights further on HCMC-Hanoi route

By Doan Loan July 20, 2021 | 09:43 pm PT

Medical staff take samples of passengers for Covid-19 testing at Tan Son Nhat Airport, HCMC, May 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

The Ministry of Transport plans to suspend flights from the south to Hanoi and further curtail capacity between HCMC and the capital amid the continuing rise in Covid incidence.

Hanoi has been detecting more and more new clusters with unidentified sources of transmission.

On Tuesday the ministry sought approval from the government to suspend flights between the city and Can Tho and Phu Quoc and to either reduce the daily passenger quota on HCMC-Hanoi flights to 800 a day from the current 1,700 or operate just two a day with 100-200 passengers.

The ministry said it prefers the second option.

Currently there are eight daily flights either way on the route, down from the normal 13 flights since July 9.

The ministry said the number of people flying routinely falls below the daily quota to just 800-1,000.

There is one flight a day each from Hanoi to Phu Quoc and Can Tho with stringent conditions.

Passengers on domestic flights have to test negative for Covid. Major airports like Noi Bai in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat in HCMC have facilities for testing.

HCMC is the new epicenter of the current wave and leads the country with 39,526 cases in the current wave that began in late April.

Vietnam has had 61,889 cases.