Upon their arrival in Hanoi, flight passengers from Da Nang City and Ho Chi Minh City will enter paid quarantine for seven days before self-isolating for another 7 days at home, Hanoi leaders announced prior to the resumption of domestic flights to the local Noi Bai Airport on Sunday.
The direction was stated by Hanoi leaders in an official document sent to the Ministry of Transport on Saturday, local media reported.
As per the document, Hanoi agrees to restart commercial flights on Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi-Da Nang routes from October 10-20, with one round trip per day for each route.
On top of that, aircrafts are not permitted to carry more than half of their capacity.
The city is not planning to reopen other domestic routes at the moment, but will keep an eye on the development of the pandemic in related locales before adding more flight routes to the list.
Passengers from Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport to Hanoi must present proofs of full vaccination against COVID-19, with the second jab taken no less than 14 days and no more than 12 months from their departures.
Otherwise, they can show proofs of COVID-19 recoveries that were issued in the past six months.
Hanoi authorities also require passengers to present coronavirus-negative test results issued within the last 72 hours, comply with epidemic safety rules, and fulfill medical declarations before they can board their flights.
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Upon arrival in Hanoi, each passenger will spend seven days at a pay-to-stay, authority-approved quarantine center of choice before they can return home for another seven days of self-isolation.
They will also need to pay for COVID-19 testing fees inflicted during the 14-day period.
Passengers from Da Nang to Hanoi will be subject to the same protocol, but they will be able to spend the first seven days of quarantine at home, with COVID-19 testings on the first and sixth days, before undergoing another seven days monitoring their own health in isolation.
Hanoi leaders also order the Noi Bai Airport to prepare separate transport options for different demographics of arriving passengers, including those who stay in Hanoi, on public missions, or heading to other provinces after their landings.
In the meantime, air carriers must make sure that agencies only sell flight tickets to customers who fulfill all requirements.
“In case a passenger is found unqualified at the flight destination, [the carrier] must flight him back to the departure point,” the official document wrote.
Passengers must declare their commitment to COVID-19 safety measures, as well as responsibilities for testing and quarantine costs before they purchase tickets.
Meanwhile, the city is putting the resumption plan for train services on hold and is asking the Ministry of Transport to continue their collaboration on flight safety at Noi Bai Airport.
Since July 22, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has introduced a ban on regular domestic flight routes between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as other municipalities that are upholding social distancing under the prime minister’s Directive No. 16, which is equivalent to a complete lockdown order.
Since then, Vietnam Airlines has been the only carrier allowed to fly on the Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City route with the frequency of two flights a day.
On August 30, the CAAV asked all carriers to suspend ticket sales for domestic flights and refund passengers for tickets issued prior to July 21, given the complicated situation of COVID-19 in Vietnam, according to Tuoi Tre Newspaper.