[Approved] Vietnam to resume regular international flights from Jan 1, 2022

The Government has decided to resume regular international passenger flights on a pilot basis from January 1, 2022, in a bid to boost economic recovery.

The decision was announced Friday following a meeting chaired by Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh on Thursday to discuss a plan on resumption of regular international passenger flights proposed by the Ministry of Transport.

Accordingly, flights will be resumed to and from highly safe countries and territories such as Beijing/Guangzhou (China), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (the Republic of Korea), Taiwan, Bangkok (Thailand), Singapore, Vientiane (Laos), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), San Francisco/Los Angeles (the United States).

Also, 6 more countries and territories have been entered to the list of vaccine passports recognition to enter Vietnam. They include: Canada, Zimbabwe, Maldives, Iraq, South Africa, and Iran. The Foreign Ministry has proactively discussed with over 80 foreign partners on mutual vaccine passport recognition.

As of early December, some partners including Japan, the U.S., Australia, and Belarus have recognized vaccination papers issued by Viet Nam.

See the updated list: Vietnam currently accepts Covid-19 vaccine passports from 78 countries and territories.

ASEAN member states, the EU, China, and the Republic of Korea are considering Viet Nam’s proposals on mutual vaccine passport recognition and waiting for Viet Nam to issue unified vaccine passport form, with an electronic confirmation mechanism.

The Government tasked the Ministry of Health to promptly issue regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control applicable to entrants.

Viet Nam closed borders to foreign tourists from March last year, allowing only its nationals, foreign experts, investors, and highly-skilled workers to enter.

So far, the country has acquired more than 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, of which 130,935,854 doses have been administered nationwide.

Thanks to rapid vaccination, the nation switched away from zero COVID-19 strategy to safe and flexible adaptation to the pandemic from October 11.