Flights from Korea to Vietnam and Russia, which had been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will resume from Sept. 25 and Oct. 3, respectively. The photo is of empty check-in counters on Aug. 17 at Incheon International Airport. (Yonhap News)

By Kim Minji and Lee Jihae

Flights to and from Vietnam and Russia, which had been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will resume.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sept. 24 said the flights will be resumed to help the activities of Korean entrepreneurs in both countries.

Flights to Vietnam resumed on Sept. 25 and those to Russia will do so from Oct. 3. 

Vietnam Airlines on Sept. 25 resumed its Incheon-Hanoi roundtrip flight. Korean Air restarted service on its Incheon-Ho Chi Minh City route the same day, and its Incheon-Hanoi route will be resumed from Sept. 28. Asiana Airlines from Oct. 1 will operate Incheon-Ho Chi Minh service.

The resumed flights between Incheon and Vietnam will run twice a week, with Vietnam Airlines and Korean Air running a flight each week.

The full-scale resumption of flights seems possible from early next month, as the Vietnamese government requires a visa and a document certifying a negative test result for a polymerase chain reaction within the last three days.

The Russian state-run airliner Aeroflot will run the Incheon-Moscow route Saturdays from Oct. 3, and Korean Air will run the flight Fridays from Oct. 9. The two carriers will take turns running a weekly Moscow-Incheon flight.

kimmj7725@korea.kr