Vietnamese Airlines has resumed inbound commercial international flights, with a flight from Taiwan to the coastal city of Da Nang marking the first to be allowed into the nation after months of coronavirus lockdown, state media said on Friday.

As many as 200 passengers flew from Taipei to Da Nang on Thursday, with travellers requiring a negative Covid-19 test in order to board the aircraft, according to DPA news.  All arrivals must also pay for a mandatory 14-day period of quarantine.

Vietnam ceased all international flights at the end of March 2020 as part of measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 within the country. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, however, repatriation flights have brought stranded overseas Vietnamese back home, with some foreign experts also permitted to travel on these flights.

Following a resurgence of the virus shortly before Lunar New Year at the end of January, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Vietnam would limit all inbound flights until after the holiday to reduce the risk of further coronavirus outbreaks.

Vietnam stands out as a global success story in its handling of the pandemic, having officially recorded just 2,581 cases and 35 deaths.

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