On Sunday, the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper reported that Vietnam would remove its Covid-19 restrictions on international passenger flights with all markets starting February 15. There will be no limit on the number of flights.
When the pandemic first began, Vietnam, the Southeast Asian country implemented tight border controls to keep Covid-19 from entering, but that hurt its burgeoning tourism industry, which accounted for about 10% of its GDP.
Dinh Viet Son, the deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, told Tuoi Tre that Vietnam will lift restrictions on international flights beginning February 15. The frequency of flights will be restored to pre-pandemic levels. Vietnam has already notified its partners about its new policy, with only China refusing to resume commercial flights with Vietnam, Son said.
Since the beginning of this year, Vietnam has gradually resumed international flights to 15 destinations and eased quarantine measures, with vaccinated passengers now only requiring a three-day quarantine period.
Official figures show around 39,000 deaths in the Southeast Asian country since the pandemic began, and nearly 2.5 million cases of Covid-19. Nearly 98 per cent of its 98 million people have received at least two vaccine doses.
