Planes of Vietnamese airlines at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

Resuming international flights is a necessary move at present after a long shutdown, heard an online seminar held by the Ministry of Transport (MoT) on November 10.

The MoT recently submitted to the Prime Minister a plan on the resumption of regular international flights with the aim of helping tackle difficulties facing airlines, promote economic recovery, and revive the tourism industry.

Vo Huy Cuong, Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), said many countries across the world have reopened international flights, and Vietnam, which has suspended such flights since early February 2020, should not be an exception.

The best possible conditions will be provided for tourists with “vaccine passports”, he added.

Highlighting the necessity to resume international flights, Nguyen Quang Trung, head of the planning and development pision of the Vietnam Airlines Corporation, held that to achieve the twin targets of developing the economy and ensuring pandemic prevention and control, the aviation sector should prioritise passengers from countries which have well controlled COVID-19 like the Republic of Korea, Japan, the US, and European nations.

He noted entry and quarantine rules receive the most attention now. The current policy of seven days of concentrated quarantine and then another seven days of home quarantine can attract only overseas Vietnamese wishing to return home, and it needs changes so as to attract foreign tourists.

Echoing the view, Cuong said the biggest obstacle now is the rules on health quarantine, adding that the shift from “zero COVID-19” to “flexibly living with COVID-19” is a very important change.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Le Phuc, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said the tourism sector is ready to welcome international travellers, and it will deal with any problems arising by working closely with ministries, sectors, and localities./.