Vietnam Airlines has sent its plans for flights bringing home Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine to the Ministry of Transport, saying it stands ready to follow instructions of the Government.

The routes proposed by the national flag carrier comprise of Hanoi- Warsaw, Hanoi-Budapest, Hanoi-Bratislava, Hanoi-Moscow, Hanoi-Minsk, and Hanoi- Bucharest.

The conflict zone, Ukrainian airspace and part of the southwest of Russia have temporarily closed to civilian flights.

Therefore, Vietnamese citizens should be transported to safe areas where flights are allowed so that Vietnam Airlines planes can pick them, a representative from the carrier said.

Vietnam Airlines has experience in conducting evacuation flights from conflict zones, and has sufficient personnel and knowledge to operate similar flights when requested, the airline affirmed.

Over the past time, it repatriated hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese citizens from more than 30 countries, regions and territories amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

It also evacuated Vietnamese workers in Libya in 2011 and 2014, and flew home Vietnamese citizens in Japan amid the powerful earthquake and tsunami in 2011, among others.

Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has asked domestic airlines to prepare resources and set out plans to repatriate Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine.

The carriers should report the plans to the CAAV before March 2, the agency said in a recent document, saying it will inform the airlines about the conduct of the repatriation flights following instructions of the Government and the Ministry of Transport.

On February 26, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also signed a dispatch on the protection of Vietnamese citizens and legal entities in Ukraine.

The dispatch, sent to ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and agencies under the Government, and Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities, said since February 24, the armed conflict in Ukraine has spread in a fast and complicated manner, directly threatening the life safety and assets of people and businesses, including that of around 7,000 Vietnamese living in Ukraine, mainly in Kharkiv, Odesa and Kyiv.

In such a situation, one of the top concerns of the Party, State, Government and Prime Minister is to ensure the highest security and safety of lives, assets and legitimate interests of Vietnamese citizens and legal entities in Ukraine and related areas, said the document./.