Vietnam ups flight frequency to US, Asian destinations as Tet nears

The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) has agreed to 14 weekly flights on routes between Hanoi, HCMC and Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei and Singapore; and to 10 weekly flights to and from Bangkok and Phnom Penh.

Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air 4, Bamboo Airways and Pacific Airlines will be providing the services.

Regular flights to San Francisco, operated by Vietnam Airlines, would be doubled to four flights a week.

After the government approved a two-week first phase of resumption of international flights to nine destinations starting Jan. 1, the CAAV granted flight slots for domestic carriers to seven of them: Bangkok, Phnom Penh, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo.

Domestic airlines were only allowed to operate a maximum of four flights a week on each of these routes, except San Francisco, which was restricted to two a week.

Regular flights between Vietnam and Australia were also allowed to resume from Saturday at 10 return flights a week. Vietnam Airlines started selling tickets Saturday for flights between Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Sydney.

The CAAV has also proposed to the Ministry of Transport that regular commercial flights are resumed between Vietnam and France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. at 10 return flights a week. The agency is awaiting the ministry's approval to grant flight slots on these routes.

The CAAV estimates around 140,000 overseas Vietnamese wish to return home to celebrate Tet, the first day of which falls on Feb. 1 this year. The number of passengers flying to Vietnam would exceed 30,000 a week in the run up to Tet, it s estimated.

Tet, Vietnam’s biggest and most important holiday, often sees millions of migrant workers and overseas Vietnamese return to their homes for family reunions.

Under current regulations, fully vaccinated people and those who have recovered from Covid-19 arriving in Vietnam only need to self-isolate for three days.

Everyone, except children below two, must have tested negative for the novel coronavirus using the PCR method within 72 hours before departure.However, due to the emergence of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, passengers are also required to undergo a rapid test on landing at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat international airports.