COVID-19 pandemic has become more and more complicated and unpredictable on a global scale with the number of infected people and deaths increasing rapidly as time goes by and there is no sign of stopping. More than 190 countries and territories have the existence of COVID-19.

Particularly in Vietnam, for the past over 20 days (from 6 – 27 March), there have been 147 new cases in various provinces, 9 times higher than the initial number.

On March 27, the Prime Minister issued Directive No.15/CT-TTg on the implementation of COVID-19 prevention and control. As the Directive of the Government: this is a very important and decisive moment in the whole fight against COVID-19 outbreak in Vietnam.

The Ministry of Transport has instructed to restrict flights and passenger transport activities from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to other places nationwide, suspending or reorganizing public transport activities to limit travelling or group gathering.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed Vietnam’s representative offices abroad to continue advocating, advising overseas Vietnamese to minimize the return to the home country at the present time and strictly follow the prevention measures of the host country.

In recent time, Bamboo Airways have actively coordinated with diplomatic agencies to conduct charter flights for humanitarian purposes. Recently, the flight from Hanoi – Prague to bring Czech and European citizens back to their home country (with the ferry flight returning) was carried out by Bamboo Airways.

Therefore, during the peak period of COVID-19 prevention from March 28 to April 15, we are required to make some temporary and necessary adjustments in operation, applicable to both regular flights and charter flights for humanitarian purposes, specifically as follows:

• Minimize domestic flights. Adopt the most strict medical standards across all operating flights.
• Temporarily suspend the charter flight from abroad for humanitarian purposes during the 2-week peak period of COVID-19 prevention, as it is impossible to completely eliminate risks in the case of bringing people who are living and working overseas to enter Vietnam. One-way flights bringing passengers leave Vietnam (with the ferry flight returning) may still be considered if having the agreement from the authorities.

Bamboo Airways will continue to take necessary measures to contribute to ensure the safety of public health, so that the pandemic situation in Vietnam will not generate more complex risks, in the context of medical staff and authorized forces being under tremendous pressure.