Vietnam Airlines Suspends All South Korea Service

Flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will suspend all flights between Vietnam and South Korea beginning March 5 as authorities grapple with the spread of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The announcement comes after Vietnamese low-cost carrier Bamboo Airways suspended the operation of two routes—Da Nang to Incheon and Nha Trang to Incheon—from February 26 to March 28.

According to a Vietnam Airlines statement released late Monday, flights bound for Vietnam’s two largest international airports—Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport—will instead fly on March 3 and 4 to three alternative airports: Can Tho International Airport in the south, Quang Ninh’s Van Don International in the north, and Phu Cat Airport in the south-central coastal province of Binh Dinh. The flag carrier, which currently operates flights from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Nha Trang to Seoul in addition to flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Busan, said it would resume flights “as soon as the situation permits.” Meanwhile, cargo flights from South Korea may land at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat international, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

The move follows a directive last week from Vietnam’s prime minister to reroute flights coming from Covid-19-stricken areas in South Korea. Vietnam also banned travelers from other coronavirus-hit areas in Japan, Italy, and Iran from entering the country. Beginning March 3, the country will no longer grant Italian travelers visa-free entry into Vietnam while South Korean nationals saw their visa-waiver program suspended on February 29. While flights to and from mainland China, including transit flights, have remained suspended since February 1, authorities continue to permit flights to and from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Meanwhile, Vietnam and China have moved to reopen several land routes including Quang Ninh, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Lang Son, and Ha Giang to resume cross-border trade.

While Vietnam has declared that its 16th and final patient infected with Covid-19 has recovered, officials have advised Vietnamese citizens not to travel to affected areas. As part of precautionary measures, a field hospital near Tan Son Nhat International Airport opened on March 3 to quarantine Vietnamese travelers returning from coronavirus-hit countries. As of Tuesday, officials suspect another 77 of contracting the virus while 15,374 people are being monitored, the Vietnamese government said.