After a 20-month long border closure, Vietnam is raising the border boom gates on January 1. Vietnam will initially open its air borders to fully vaccinated travelers from selected countries in a staged reopening. As a result, Vietnam’s airlines are putting international flights on sale.
Vietnam’s airlines cautiously resume international flying
Vietnamese authorities are allowing international flights to resume from the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and Cambodia from January 1. Initially, Vietnamese airlines can fly four times a week on routes to those countries.
Several other countries, including South Korea, China, Laos, and Thailand, are very close to restoring air connections with Vietnam.
Hanoi-based VietJet will resume regular international flights from January 1, 2022. VietJet plans to operate flights connecting Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City to Tokyo (Narita), Seoul, Taipei, Singapore, and Bangkok from the beginning of January 2022.
Initially, VietJet will operate one return flight per week on their international routes. The low-cost carrier will pick up the pace when demand warrants. VietJet also confirms their new Airbus A330-300 will make an appearance on international flights over the coming months.
Bamboo Airways & Vietnam Airlines get back to business
Bamboo Airways has scheduled flights between Hanoi and Tokyo and Hanoi and Taipei. The airline is flying Hanoi – Tokyo every Tuesday over January and Hanoi – Taipei every Wednesday.
“Bamboo Airways officially opened the sale of routes Hanoi – Taipei and Hanoi – Tokyo to meet the travel needs of Vietnamese people wishing to study, work, etc.,” the airline notes on its website.
Flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has flights scheduled to Tokyo in early January alongside flights between Ho Chi Minh and Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh and San Francisco.
Vietnam Airlines has maintained some international flying throughout the pandemic. Mostly that’s been to get essential freight and travelers in and out of the country. A look at their international schedule posted online indicates they’ll be flying between Ho Chi Minh City and Narita every Saturday from January 1 and Hanoi and Narita every Thursday and Sunday.
The Hanoi – Seoul sector is serviced every Thursday, and two flights a week are scheduled between Hanoi and Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok, respectively. One-off flights in January to Frankfurt, London, and Phnom Penh are also in the timetables.
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Vietnam – US flights capture interest
However, it is the flights between Vietnam and the United States that are registering the most interest.
Both Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways have long harbored US flight ambitions. To date, Vietnam has been one of the few countries in Asia without nonstop connections to the US. A variety of factors are behind this, including Vietnam not securing a Category 1 FAA rating until early 2019.
The travel downturn and Vietnam’s closed borders interrupted the plans of both airlines to open up US air routes in the wake of that 2019 decision. Since then, Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways have begun flying into the US. The former has even been ramping up operations to prove that it can be done. However, the airlines will be looking forward to serving more passengers across the Pacific after the reopening.
