Hanoi (VNA) – National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines said onSeptember 23 that it is selling tickets for Flight VN471 from the Republic ofKorea (RoK)’s Seoul to Hanoi, scheduled to take off on September 25 morning.

Thisis the first official regular international commercial flight to Vietnam sincethe outbreak of COVID-19.

Passengerswill be carried by Airbus A350 aircraft which consists of over 300 seats.

Dueto special requirements on epidemic prevention and control, the tickets willnot be sold via the airlines’ website. Therefore, customers can buy tickets viaofficial agents of the carrier in Vietnam and the RoK.

Earlier, for the first time insix months, an international commercial flight took off from Hanoi, heading toJapan.

Flight VN310, conducted byVietnam Airlines, left Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi at 6.30am onSeptember 19 morning for a five-hour journey to Narita Airport in Tokyo.

It marked the beginning ofthe resumption of regular flights to a number of selected destinations inAsia since planes were grounded back in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On board were Vietnamesetrainees, workers, and experts heading back to Tokyo to continue their studyand work after months of disruption.

It also carried a number ofJapanese citizens returning home.

All 60 passengers boarding theVietnam Airlines flight had to present a mandatory proof of a negativecoronavirus tests (PCR diagnostics) issued three days before the flight,declare their travel history in the 14 days prior and download contract tracingapps as per health protocols set by the host country. 

VietnamAirlines is set to organise two more flights from Hanoi to Tokyo on September25 and 30, and one from HCM City to Tokyo on September 30.

Budgetcarrier Vietjet has also announced resumption of flights to Japan, the RoK, andTaiwan (China) starting September 29.

Internationalflights to and from Vietnam were grounded late March after the Governmentimposed border closures against all foreign entries.

Since then,Vietnamese airlines only carried out a number of irregular flights torepatriate Vietnamese citizens overseas or bring to the country a limitednumber of foreign investors, highly skilled workers, experts, businessmanagers and diplomats.

Recently,the Vietnamese Government decided to reopen international flights to six Asiandestinations – Japan, the RoK, mainland China, Taiwan, Cambodia, and Laos – allimportant partners and deemed to be epidemiologically safe, as the country aimsto balance COVID-19 preventionand economic development./.