Vietnam Airlines U-turns to transport passengers from Europe to Vietnam

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has announced it will bring passengers from Europe to Vietnam from March 15, only hours after its announcement to fly empty from that market to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Vietnam Airlines airplane. Photo: Vietnam Airlines

“To uphold its national responsibilities and continue to grant passengers access to Vietnam,” the airline will carry passengers meeting all immigration and health requirements back to Vietnam on flights departing from London, Paris, and Frankfurt, it said in a statement late on March 14.

Before embarking, all passengers have to undergo an interview and body temperature check to ensure that they meet all health requirements to fly back to and enter Vietnam.

Passengers are also required to wear face masks and gloves throughout the flights. In addition, they are duly subjected to ongoing in-flight health monitoring and post-flight quarantine. All crew members will be equipped with specialized medical protective clothing, the airline added.

These flights will land at predetermined airports in Vietnam, it said. Currently, airplanes from epidemic-hit nations are rerouted to land in Van Don (the northern province of Quang Ninh), Phu Cat (the central province Binh Dinh), and Can Tho (the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho) airports.

Vietnam has designated epidemic-hit countries as the 26 Schengen states, the UK, China, South Korea and Iran.