HCMC – Vietnam will resume five regular international air services to Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Cambodia and the United States in early 2022, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) said on December 28.
The number of overseas Vietnamese people wanting to return to the country is huge, at over 140,000, so it is necessary to reopen international flights to more countries and territories.
CAAV had earlier sent dispatches to the aviation agencies of Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, China, South Korea, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos proposing resuming air services between Vietnam and these destinations from January 1 next year.
Four of them, Japan, Taipei in Taiwan, Singapore and Cambodia, agreed with the Vietnamese proposal.
Accordingly, CAAV granted licenses to Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air and All Nippons Airways to operate flights between Vietnam and Japan. The first flight run by Vietnam Airlines is set to take off on January 5, 2022, while the two other airlines will operate their first flight a day later.
As for the Taipei-Vietnam air route, CAAV issued licenses to Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways to resume their operations on the route. Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways will operate one weekly flight, while Vietjet Air will launch two weekly flights.
The Taipei side also proposed increasing the flight frequency to five flights per week.
After Singapore approved resuming air services to Vietnam, the Vietnamese aviation authority permitted Vietnam Airlines to run two weekly flights and Vietjet Air to launch one weekly flight.
Vietnam Airlines was also licensed to resume its services on the HCMC-Phnom Penh (Cambodia) air route with a frequency of four flights per week.
As only Vietnam Airlines is operating its flights between Vietnam and the United States and had earlier been licensed by the agencies of the two countries to launch regular flights, the negotiation over the reopening of flights is not necessary. The airline can still run its flights as planned.
Meanwhile, South Korea, China and Laos have yet to decide on resuming air services to Vietnam.
Due to the rising demand from Vietnamese citizens to return to the country, CAAV proposed the Ministry of Transport allow the authority to continue negotiating with other countries such as France, Germany, Russia and Australia to resume air services with a frequency of seven weekly flights on each air route.
