Budget carrier Vietjet has teamed up with Vietnamese agencies domestically and overseas to help citizens return home.

Late last week, Vietjet operated an international flight repatriating 240 Vietnamese citizens from the Philippines. The flight departed from Ninoy Aquino International Airport and arrived at Cần Thơ International Airport.  After landing at the airport, all passengers were medically examined and then escorted to mandatory quarantine centres.

This month, Vietjet has also provided repatriation flights from Singapore, Taiwan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It plans to conduct four more flights to repatriate more citizens from the Philippines, Russia, Brunei, Indonesia and Myanmar in the near future. 

According to Vietjet, passengers on the repatriation flight are categorised in the priority group, including children under 18, the elderly, pregnant women, people with health problems, workers with expired labour contracts and no accommodation, students without residence due to dormitory disclosure and other particularly difficult circumstances.

Vietjet expects to bring nearly 10,000 Vietnamese citizens abroad safely back home by the end of July, complying with entry requirements and quarantine upon arrival. 

All flights are in line with global standards and guidelines from local authorities, the World Health Organisation and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in order to ensure the health and safety of passengers, crew and the community.

In the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, Vietjet launched a campaign to repatriate passengers with many free flights and one-way ferry flights to bring Vietnamese and foreign citizens back home.

The airline has also participated in transporting thousands of tonnes of essential goods, medical equipment and donated more than 2.5 million medical masks to the people in the UK, France, Germany and the US to support the countries in preventing and repelling the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Based on the results of repatriation flights, Vietjet will continue to work closely with the authorities and the Government to adjust the flight frequencies in accordance with the actual situation; increase repatriation and commercial flights to bring Vietnamese citizens back home," the airline said in a statement. 

Currently, Vietjet has completed preparations to resume international flights and are awaiting official approval from the Government. — VNS