Vietnamese carriers open ticket sales for international flights

Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways have opened ticket sales to several locations including the U.S., Japan and Taiwan, signaling the resumption of international travel on New Year’s Day.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is offering tickets between HCMC and Phnom Penh in Cambodia, with one-way prices starting at VND2.5 million ($109.54). From Hanoi to Tokyo, the starting fare is VND11.7 million; and from HCMC to San Francisco, VND21.2 million.

All flights are scheduled for January 1, 5 and 9, respectively.

Vietnam Airlines is not offering tickets to Singapore and Taipei yet, even though it has received permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) to reopen flights on these routes.

Meanwhile, private airline Bamboo Airways is offering tickets from Hanoi to Taipei at VND4.5 million one-way once a week starting January 5.

Round-trip tickets are not being offered at this point.

Vietnam requires arriving passengers to test Covid-19 negative and have certificates of vaccination or Covid-19 recovery. They will also need to isolate themselves at a location of their choice for three days after arrival.

Those who are not fully vaccinated will need to guarantee that they will isolate themselves for at least seven days at home or a location approved by local authorities.

The CAAV has approved the resumption of international flight routes to Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Cambodia and the U.S, with each domestic airline allowed to operate four flights a week on each route.

South Korea, China, Laos and Thailand have not finalized their responses to Vietnam’s request for flight resumption.

Vietnam closed its borders and grounded international flights in March 2020, allowing in only citizens, foreign experts, investors, and highly-skilled workers coming in on special flights.