On February 24, South Korean officials announced that the country had just had 231 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of domestic infections to 833. Most of the infections were concentrated in the country's fourth-largest city of Daegu and neighboring North Gyeongsang Province.
Responding quickly to the Covid-19 epidemic situation in Korea, all Vietnamese airlines have made decisions to adjust frequencies or cancel flights.
Daegu is becoming the world's second epidemic center after Wuhan.
Specifically, with the epicenter of Daegu, up to this point, only Vietjet Air operates this route in Vietnam to complete the contract to transport Korean passengers from Vietnam back to the city of Daegu. However, a representative of Vietjet Air also said that the airline is expected to temporarily suspend the Daegu - Da Nang route from February 25 to March 28. All other airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airway and Jetstar Pacific, do not have flights to Daegu, South Korea.
Although the aviation authorities have not yet decided to temporarily suspend flights to South Korea, the frequency of flights between the two countries is decreasing due to a sharp decline in customer demand due to the Covid-19 epidemic. In addition to Vietnamese airlines, only Korean airline Tway Air is operating flights from Daegu to Vietnam. However, due to a sharp decline in flight demand, the airline has canceled flights from Daegu to Hanoi and Da Nang from February 18 to March 28; and canceled flights between Daegu and Nha Trang from February 23 to March 28. Thus, starting from February 25, Vietnam no longer has any flights to and from the epicenter of the epidemic, Daegu.
Starting from February 25, Vietnam will no longer have any flights to and from the epidemic center of Daegu.
In addition to the Daegu route, Vietnamese airlines have also begun to reduce the frequency of flights and cancel 50% of flights between Vietnam and South Korea from February 17 to March 28. Bamboo Airways said it will temporarily suspend the Da Nang - Incheon and Nha Trang - Incheon routes from February 26 until the epidemic is controlled. This is the first Vietnamese airline to stop all flights to South Korea.
According to Vietnam Airlines, up to this point, the airline has stopped flights from Da Nang to Incheon and Cam Ranh (Nha Trang) to Incheon. Flights from Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City to Incheon and Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City to Busan are still maintained by Vietnam Airlines, but the frequency has been significantly reduced due to the decrease in the number of passengers. Specifically, flights numbered VN 414 and 415 departing and arriving between Incheon International Airport (Seoul, South Korea) and Noi Bai (Hanoi, Vietnam) on February 26 and 28; March 4 and 6; March 8-12, March 18-19, and March 25-26 will be temporarily suspended.
Regarding foreign airlines, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) in Vietnam said that Korean Air has stopped operating flights KE 483 and KE 484 on the Incheon - Noi Bai route from February 25 to March 23. Air Seoul also announced the suspension of the Hanoi - Seoul route from March 1 to March 28. The airline also supports refunds and ticket exchanges for customers. Currently, the airline is still operating flights from Seoul to Da Nang and Nha Trang. Previously, Asiana Airlines also stopped the Seoul - Hanoi route on flights OZ 727 and 728 from February 18 to March 9. T'Way Air has stopped all flights to and from Hanoi and Korea from now until March 28.
South Korea is the second largest source of tourists to Vietnam after China. According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in the first nine months of 2019, 3.1 million South Korean tourists visited Vietnam, accounting for about 24.4% of international visitors.
