HCMC - A Vietnam Airlines aircraft bringing home 276 Vietnamese nationals from Canada landed at Van Don International Airport on the evening of May 1.

All of the passengers, including under-18 students, elderly people, tourists, workers and those under special circumstances, had their health checked and were sent to quarantine centers after arrival, in line with prevailing regulations.

This was the national flag carrier’s first repatriation flight for Vietnamese nationals stranded in Toronto, Canada due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Ottawa had dispatched staff to Toronto to help with the repatriation, the local media reported.

The number of crew members required and costs for the flight were greater than normal flights, said Vietnam Airlines, adding that the flight mobilized over 30 crew members, including eight pilots, 20 flight attendants, two technicians and two ground service employees, to ensure the safety of the 42-hour round-trip flight.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Vietnam’s agencies had earlier cooperated with the Vietnamese Embassy in Canada and Vietnam Airlines to fly home many Canadian citizens.

The Canadian Embassy in Vietnam, on its official Facebook page on May 1, thanked Vietnam for operating the flight and helping Canadian nationals to return home.

Besides this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that based upon citizens’ aspirations for returning home, localities’ quarantine capacity and the development of Covid-19, the country’s agencies and local airlines will continue to operate some commercial flights to bring home Vietnamese nationals abroad in the coming days.