Asiana chartered flights help Hyundai Mipo in Vietnam

An Asiana Airlines aircraft parked at Incheon International Airport in April. [YONHAP]

Asiana Airlines is flying chartered planes to Nha Trang in Vietnam this month to transport workers of the Vietnam unit of Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.

The carrier announced Monday it sent a chartered plane to the coastal city of the Southeast Asian country on Monday and will send one more on Wednesday.

The airline is transporting 70 crew members and even owners of the vessels built by the Vietnam unit of Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.

The transport was requested by the shipbuilder, according to the airline.

Forty-eight people from various countries, including Russia and Ukraine, got on the chartered plane sent on Monday. Twenty-two people from India are to be sent to Vietnam on Wednesday.

They will transfer from Incheon International Airport to head to Vietnam.

“Asiana Airlines is glad it could join the effort to overcome the impact of Covid-19 on a domestic shipbuilding company at a time when many companies struggle due to limited air travel,” said a spokesperson for Asiana Airlines in a statement. We “believe Incheon International Airport’s transfer system played a major role [to make this possible]."

The airline has dispatched chartered planes to various cities since the Covid-19 outbreak, including to Dubai, Hanoi, Guangzhou, Istanbul and Sydney.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]