The Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport is considering the resumption of the international passenger flight operations soon on routes to countries and territories where no new cases of community COVID-19 transmission have been reported for 30 consecutive days, according to a ministry official. On priority bases, the country will resume flight operations to China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and some Southeast Asian countries which have successfully controlled the pandemic.

The resumption of scheduled international flights is to begin by the end of July, according to a proposal from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) sent to the ministry recently.

The ministry official further said, “The reopening aims to serve investors, technical staff and skilled workers in Vietnam. It creates conditions for Vietnamese people living abroad to return home. However, all travelers still have to follow strict control procedures to prevent the spread of the pandemic to the community.”

According to the statement of Head of the CAAV Dinh Viet Thang, transit passengers will not be allowed to enter into Vietnam, other passengers are required to have stayed in their respective countries and territories for at least 30 consecutive days before flight and required to have coronavirus certificates issued by authorities certifying that they are negative to COVID-19 at most three days before the scheduled flight date.

In addition to the decision of resuming international flights, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has recently addressed that the reopening of international flights will have to ensure all key safety measures for passengers as even a small mistake can lead to implementation of the strict prevention measures again.

In regards to local COVID-19 transmission in Vietnam, the country has reported 355 confirmed cases which are under treatment and in stable condition, 340 patients have completely recovered and no death caused by virus, as of Friday (July 3).