Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam Airlines is resumingflights between Vietnam and Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as fromFebruary 2 after the civil aviation authority permitted the resumption torepatriate affected passengers at airports in Vietnam and the Chinese territories amid the novel coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak.
The national flag carrier said that it is resuming theroutes between Vietnam and Taiwan as from February 2. It is conducting flights linkingHanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with Hong Kong as scheduled from February 2 throughFebruary 5.
After that, Vietnam Airlines will suspend the Hanoi-HongKong route. The HCM City-Hong Kong route will be maintained after February 5,but the carrier will keep a close watch on the travel demand to adjust theflight frequency. Flights between Hanoi and Macau are also resumed on February2 and will be halted from February 5.
Meanwhile, Jetstar Pacific announced that it is operatingflights between Hanoi and Hong Kong as planned through February 5 and maintainthe Vietnam-Taiwan route.
Vietjet Air said it suspended all flights to and from Chinaas from February 1. However, all other international routes, including those to Hong Kong and Taiwan, are still operated as normal.
Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan said as Hong Kong,Macau and Taiwan haven’t been affected much by the nCoV epidemic, his ministrydecided to allow airlines to conduct flights between Vietnam and the threeChinese territories.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, thisagency has temporarily cancelled the licences granted to flights linking withChina from 6am GMT (1pm Vietnam time) on February 1 until a new announcement isissued.
However, to handle the large number of passengers strandedat many destinations in mainland China, Vietnamese airlines are permitted toconduct some flights to carry them home.
All flights from Vietnam to China to repatriate passengerswill be empty, and the returning flights will carry only Vietnamese passengersand must land at Van Don airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh. People on thoseflights will be isolated and have their health monitored for at least twoweeks, the aviation authority noted./.
