Low-cost carrier Vietjet Air has announced it will temporarily halt flights between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea starting March 7 as the number of COVID-19 cases in the RoK continues to rise.
Vietjet Air will halt flights from/to RoK from March 7. (Photo: VNA)
The airline said its services have been brought up to the highest international standards and recommendations for epidemic control made by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and domestic aviation authorities to ensure safety for all passengers and crew.
Before it services are suspended, Vietjet Air will fly a number of Koreans back home free of charge with measures in place to ensure the safety and well-being of the passengers and crew members.
With this announcement, all flights between the two countries operated by four Vietnamese carriers have been halted because of the COVID-19 epidemic.
National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will suspend its flights between the two countries from March 5 while Bamboo Airways halted services on this route on February 26.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAA), before the COVID-19 outbreak occurred, Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways and Jetstar Pacific were operating 182 flights per week per way connecting Vietnam’s Cam Ranh, Da Lat, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with Busan, Incheon, South Jeolla, Gangwon, Cheongwon-gu and Daegu in the RoK.
Meanwhile, eight RoK airlines have run 381 flights per week per way on ten routes between the two countries.
Koreans accounted for 23.1 percent of Vietnamese airlines’ foreign flyers and because of the epidemic, the number of Vietnam-RoK flights had dropped by 60 percent as of February 24.
Vietnam also suspended visa-free entry for RoK citizens as from 0:00 on February 29 amid the complicated developments of the COVID-19 epidemic in the RoK./.