(Photo: VNA)

To ensure their health safety, passengers on board flight VN310 were seated at a distance from one another and all disease prevention and control measures recommended by Vietnamese and Japanese authorities are strictly implemented. The passengers had to present a proof of a negative coronavirus test issued no more than three days before the flight, declare their travel history during the 14 previous days and download a contact tracing app per the health protocols set by the country of arrival. 

The flight crew will all undergo health examinations and be quarantined when they returned to Vietnam.

Following Saturday’s flight, Vietnam Airlines will conduct two more flights from Hanoi to Tokyo on September 25 and 30 and one flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Tokyo on September 30. The national flag carrier plans to also resume flights to South Korea, China, Chinese Taipei, Laos, and Cambodia.

Budget carrier Vietjet Air is expected to resume its routine flights to Japan, South Korea, and Chinese Taipei beginning September 29. Bamboo Airways will open routes to Singapore, and Melbourne, Australia in the fourth quarter of this year, and to London, Munich, and Frankfurt in the first quarter of next year. 

All carriers have developed standard protocols on disease prevention and control including providing protective gear for anyone in direct contact with passengers, requiring passengers to restrict their contacts, and suspending the use of blankets and inflight newspapers. Planes will be disinfected after each flight.

Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat international airports have worked out plans for serving international visitors including safety routing passengers, requiring health declarations, and enforcing distancing at boarding and luggage claim areas. They will work closely with relevant agencies to deal with passengers who do not meet immigration and disease prevention requirements. 

The Ministry of Transport had asked the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control to submit to the Prime Minister a plan for resuming commercial flights to Vietnam. The Ministry of Health has issued compulsory requirements such as body temperature checks, health declarations, disinfection, installation of the Bluezone contact tracing app, and routing of passengers to quarantine areas.