Bad, but unsurprising, news for anyone abroad hoping to visit Vietnam in the next few months.
VnExpress reports that, according to an announcement from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Vietnam will not grant permission for inbound flights from June 16 through September 16.
There are exceptions for special cases, including diplomats, experts, executives and highly qualified workers, or specific cases identified by the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.
There is also no guarantee that flights will resume on that date, especially given the state of the pandemic in many countries.
Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways, meanwhile, had previously announced plans to begin offering international flights in July, but aviation experts told the news source that this is unlikely to happen.
Dr. Luong Hoai Nam, a member of the Tourism Advisory Board, said: "In this current situation, the reopening of international commercial flights from July 1 as planned by Vietnamese carriers in which passengers are not subject to the 14-day quarantine is unfeasible."
VNA and Bamboo were targeting South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China, however all but Taiwan are still battling consistent coronavirus infections, with a particularly worrying cluster recently emerging in Beijing. South Korea is also dealing with their second wave of infections, especially in Seoul.
An anonymous analyst added that while Vietnam is in negotiations on resuming flights with China, South Korea and Japan, this process is still in its early stages, and other regions of the world still face severe outbreaks.
"If negotiations with countries in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania are conducted soon, the reopening of some international routes in the next three months is feasible," Nam told the news source. "However, European and North American markets will require a longer wait because the COVID-19 situation there is still very complicated."
[Photo via To Quoc]
