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TOKYO, June 25-- Japan on Thursday partially resumed international flights, with a chartered plane leaving Narita Airport near Tokyo bound for Vietnam. The flight is the first of three arranged by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam and operated by Vietnam Airlines that will depart from Narita Airport from Thursday through Saturday. The plane departed Japan with 150 passengers aboard, all of whom were provided with protective gowns and face masks for the flight as a measure to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). On their arrival at northern Vietnam's Van Don International Airport, the passengers will have to undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for the virus and then self-quarantine for two weeks. Production at some Japanese facilities based in Vietnam have suffered due to a lack of Japanese workers. "I am more relieved, than happy. We will now have the human resources we need to restart our operations," Sharp Manufacturing Vietnam Chairman Wada Kazuhito was quoted by local media as saying. In total, the three flights will carry around 440 business people to Vietnam, with Japan's foreign ministry hoping to see the return of workers from Vietnam, including those on its technical trainee program, as it eyes lifting its entry ban to those from Vietnam. Earlier this month, the government here announced it was planning to ease its coronavirus-linked travel restrictions this summer by allowing, at first, the entry of up to 250 business people per day from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Vietnam. | 
