Vietnam – S.Korea flights momentarily unaffected

However, as South Korean passengers have now cancelled air bookings to Vietnam, airlines are reducing flight frequency to South Korea.

Despite the complicated situation of Covid-19 outbreak in South Korea, the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport (MoT) has not considered suspending flights between Vietnam and South Korea, according to Le Anh Tuan, vice minister of transport.

Illustrative photo.

However, as a large number of South Korean passengers have cancelled air bookings to Vietnam, airlines are reducing flight frequency to South Korea, said Tuan in an interview with Vietnam News Agency on February 23.

Without passengers, most airlines have suspended flight routes from Vietnam to Daegu, the epicenter of the outbreak, while only Vietjet Air flies to Daegu at the moment, Tuan added.

According to Tuan, the MoT is closely monitoring the situation of the epidemic in Daegu and has sought the instruction from Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

On February 21, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) released a statement refuting rumor that all flights between Vietnam and South Korea and Vietnam and Japan have been suspended.

The CAAV urged the public to update information from official websites of related government agencies.

As of present, the CAAV has only stopped flights between Vietnam and China as requested by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Amid the surging cases of Covid-19 infections in South Korea, the Consular Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged Vietnamese citizens in South Korea to refrain from going to high risk areas and strictly follow guidance of local authorities to prevent the spread of the outbreak.