Vietnam Airlines cleared for 12 repatriation flights from US

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has received permission from U.S. authorities to conduct 12 repatriation flights this year, the first of which is scheduled for this month.

The first flight will leave Hanoi on June 22 for Washington D.C. with a stop in Alaska before returning to Vietnam on June 24.

The airline will use its biggest wide-body aircraft – the Boeing 787 or the Airbus A350 for these flights.

It remains the only Vietnamese carrier to receive flight permits from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which is said to have stringent requirements. The examination process for the 12 flights took one month.

Vietnam Airlines expects the flights to help evaluate the possibility of conducting regular flights between the two countries after the Covid-19 pandemic has been contained.

Last year, it conducted 20 flights between Vietnam and the U.S. to serve Vietnamese citizens and U.S. experts, and to transport goods.