Airlines cancel Vietnam-South Korea flights amid coronavirus outbreak
Several flights between South Korea and Vietnam have been cancelled due to the outbreak of coronavirus Covid-19.
The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam announced that they have reduced the number of flights to South Korea from February 7, after the South Korean government advised their citizens to limit travelling to countries in Southeast Asia.
Vietnam Airlines said they had stopped flights on Danang-Incheon and Cam Ranh-Incheon routes. They also cut the number of flights on Incheon-Hanoi/HCM City and Busan-Hanoi/HCM City routes due to lack of passengers.
Bamboo Airways on February 24 also decreased the number of flights for similar reasons. They will temporarily stop operating the flights on Danang-Incheon and Nha Trang-Incheon starting from February 26. The carrier said it was necessary to mitigate the outbreak and apologised to their passengers for the inconvenience.
They will issue more detail information about the cancellation and support policies. Passengers were advised to arrange their schedules. After the outbreak is under control, they will announce new flight schedules.
Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airways, Vietjet Air, and Jetstar Pacific are operating 14 routes from Nha Trang, Da Lat, Hai Phong, Danang, Hanoi and HCM City to Busan, Incheon, Jeolla-Nam, Gangwon, Cheongwon-gu and Daegu. There were 182 flights per week.
Eight airlines from South Korea are operating 10 routes from Busan, Incheon, Jeolla-Nam, and Daegu to Cam Ranh, Phu Quoc, Danang, Hanoi and HCM City with 381 flights a week. South Korean Tway Air cancelled flights from Daegu to Hanoi and Danang from February 18 to March 28 due to lack of passengers, and Daegu to Nha Trang from February 23 to March 28.
Many passengers from Vietnam and South Korea cancelled their reservations after Covid-19 broke out in South Korea.
According to the Ministry of Transport, only Vietjet Air still has charter flights on Vietnam-Deagu route. Vietnamese authorities are following the situation in South Korea and governmental solutions. The steering committee on Covid-19 prevention and control will hold a meeting on February 25 to discuss details about Vietnam-South Korea flights.
The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam said they would follow the directives from the steering committee on Covid-19 prevention and control about managing flights to and from South Korea. They have only announced to temporarily ban Vietnam-China flights from February 1.
On February 21, there were rumours published online that flights between Vietnam and South Korea and Japan have been temporarily suspended for coronavirus prevention. However, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam denied the claims and asked police to find the source of the rumour.
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