Air carriers resume Europe-bound services

Carriers having Europe-bound flights, including Vietnam Airlines, are resuming their services after European aviation authorities agreed to reopen certain airports in the continent to ease air travel.
Vietnam Airlines operated two direct flights on Tuesday between HCMC and Moscow. The carrier conducted one flight from Domodedovo airport in Moscow to Paris to transport the affected passengers who departed from HCMC on April 15 but were rerouted to the Russian city due to a huge volcanic ash cloud blanketing European airspace.
Air France said its aircraft, with nearly 300 passengers aboard, was scheduled to take off from Tan Son Nhat Airport for France on Tuesday evening.
Vietnam Airlines has planned two flights from HCMC and Hanoi to Paris as well as one compensation flight from Paris to HCMC on Wednesday to transport affected passengers.
Foreign airlines including Thai Airways and Qatar are offering their services to Athens, Moscow and Rome. Malaysia Airlines also flies to Rome while Cathay Pacific has flights to Rome and Milan.
Malaysia Airlines said in a statement obtained by the Daily on Tuesday evening that it planned to resume its scheduled flights to London, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt today.
Only customers with confirmed bookings for travel on April 21 are advised to proceed to the airport while stranded passengers should call +603 78841234 to rebook flights subject to seat availability.
The carrier advised customers to call its Call Center on +603 78433000 (outside Malaysia) or its HCMC office at +84 838292529 during office hours.
Executives of the flagship carrier said in HCMC on Tuesday that 21 canceled flights between Europe and Vietnam from April 16 to 19 had affected more than 6,430 passengers, including more than 1,220 in France, 621 in Germany and 313 in Russia, and the rest in Vietnam.
* Jetstar Pacific will fly between Hanoi and Nha Trang everyday, and operate one more flight on the Hanoi-Danang route from June 1 to September 5 to meet the increasing demand for air travel to central Vietnam during summer.
The local low-cost carrier will operate two daily services between Hanoi and the central coastal city of Nha Trang, and two between the capital city and Danang from June 1. The additional flight on the second route will be in the morning, departing from Noi Bai Airport at 7 a.m.
As scheduled, Jetstar Pacific’s aircraft will take off from Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi at 7:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. and from Nha Trang at 9:45 a.m. and 1 p.m. The flights take less than two hours.
Jetstar Pacific is selling tickets for the new flights via its website at www.jetstar.com and at its booking offices and agents nationwide.
The carrier also accepts online payment from the E-Partner debit card issued by Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) in addition to Vietcombank’s Connect 24 card and credit cards including Visa, Master and JCB.
Currently, Jetstar Pacific operates six Airbus A320 and five Boeing 737-400 aircraft for its daily flights between HCMC and Hanoi, Vinh, Hue and Haiphong, and the Hanoi-Danang route.