Near Tet, worried about airport congestion

Boarding the plane on time but still waiting for hours to take off; landing but still sitting and waiting for the bus; people entering immigration first, with luggage more than an hour later and still not knowing where it is..., Tan Son Nhat airport is haunted by delays even before peak season.

The airport is empty but still... jammed

Eager to welcome her family from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City on the occasion of the recent New Year, Ms. Quynh Khanh (living in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) breathed a sigh of relief when her family reported that the flight from Hanoi was not delayed too long - the flight schedule was 17:15, but the plane took off at 17:35. At exactly 19:32, when her family texted to inform them that they had just landed, Ms. Khanh started driving from home to Tan Son Nhat airport because she calculated that even though they had landed, it would still take everyone 30 minutes to get out. At 19:56, she arrived at the domestic arrivals hall of Tan Son Nhat airport, but Ms. Khanh still hadn't seen everyone coming out. When she called, she was told that they were still sitting on the plane waiting for the bus. 20:15, then 20:30..., an hour had passed since the plane landed, and her family still hadn't gotten off the plane. "It was almost 8:40 p.m. when I picked up my family. The airport was normal and not crowded, but I don't know why we had to wait so long. Even after getting off the plane, the ordeal was still not over. In fact, the time spent waiting to get off the plane was almost as long as flying back to Hanoi. Not to mention that on today's flight, all the food was sold out, with only a few small portions left. My group of nearly 10 people could only buy 3 portions of food, the rest were starving," said Quynh Khanh.

Passengers struggle to wait for a bus at Tan Son Nhat airport

In the same situation but in the opposite direction, Mr. Hoang Hai was initially secretly happy when he went to check in at Tan Son Nhat airport to return to Hanoi after the holiday because the airport was very clear. The procedures through security screening and boarding the plane were very quick. Mr. Hoang Hai even leisurely texted his family to wait for dinner because today's flight time was 5:40 p.m., so he would be home around 8:30 p.m. However, after waiting for nearly 20 minutes, the plane still did not move, Mr. Hai asked the flight attendant and was informed that due to technical problems, the plane was scheduled to take off at 6:30 p.m. As a result, the flight officially departed at 6:37 p.m. Although he did not get stuck on the bus when he landed at Noi Bai airport, it was still nearly 10 p.m. before he got home. "Going by plane is so nerve-wracking now. Before, I would sit and wait at the terminal, hoping to get on the plane as soon as possible. Now, after getting on the plane, I have to wait again. The plane arrives but sometimes has to circle around and not land. Even after landing, I still can't "escape", I'm afraid of not having a bus, afraid of being late for luggage... Especially flights to/from Tan Son Nhat often have problems. It takes less than 2 hours to fly from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, but it takes 6-7 hours by plane," said Mr. Hoang Hai. Notably, his flight also reported running out of food to serve passengers, similar to the situation on Ms. Khanh's family's flight. Previously, many passengers complained about entering the international terminal of Tan Son Nhat airport, all procedures were quick until waiting to get luggage. On some flights, passengers had entered for more than 1 hour but still had not seen their luggage. In fact, not only during the New Year peak, but since the beginning of the year, although the number of domestic passengers using aviation services has shown signs of a sharp decrease, the situation of delayed flights has not improved, but has even increased. The latest report from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said that from January 1 to the end of November 2023, the entire aviation industry operated a total of 260,679 flights, a decrease of about 26,000 flights compared to the same period in 2022. Notably, the Civil Aviation Authority recorded 221,229 on-time flights, accounting for 84.9%, down from the average of the same period in 2022 at 89.6%. This means that although the number of flights has decreased by tens of thousands, the rate of delayed flights has still increased. In the group of causes of flight delays by airlines, late arrival of aircraft is the main cause of delayed take-offs.

Traffic jam spreads from inside to outside

Waiting for the plane, waiting for the bus, until leaving Tan Son Nhat airport terminal, passengers still have not escaped the "tribulation" of having to take a taxi. After nearly 4 years of implementing the plan to "push" traditional taxis and technology taxis into the TCP parking area, the work of picking up/dropping off passengers has not only not improved but on the contrary, is gradually becoming a nightmare for passengers every time they land at Tan Son Nhat airport.

The roads around Tan Son Nhat airport are traffic jam "hotspots".

Regardless of whether the flight is during the day or at night, on weekdays or holidays, passengers still encounter many difficulties when calling a car. Technology cars line up from Truong Son Street, inching their way into the parking lot in the passenger pick-up area in lanes D1 and D2, while the traditional taxi waiting area is often packed with people lining up, jostling, and pushing each other. Many people have to wait from 20 minutes to nearly 1 hour to get a taxi. Arriving at a flight from Phu Quoc to Ho Chi Minh City at 2:30 p.m. on New Year's Day, Mr. Tran Duc (residing in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) "sweat" waiting for nearly 30 minutes at Tan Son Nhat Airport to get a Grab car. As soon as he got off the bus and started entering the terminal, Mr. Duc booked a car through the app and immediately found a driver. However, 10 minutes passed when he got to lane D1, the car still hadn't moved. Contacting the driver, Mr. Duc was informed that the car was entering the parking lot but there were still 7 cars in line ahead. After nearly 20 minutes standing in the hot and stuffy basement, Mr. Duc's car slowly entered and then it took another 20 minutes to exit TCP. "The cars were already crowded and the driver had to pass through 2 toll stations, one station charged 15,000 VND for the parking lot, the other station charged 10,000 VND for the airport. Since the technology car was brought in here, every time I had to wait at least 20 minutes to get a car, and I also had to pay an additional fee of 25,000 VND for each trip. It was both troublesome and costly," Mr. Tran Duc was upset. Meanwhile, the gateway routes around Tan Son Nhat airport have been starting to become "swelteringly" congested in recent days. From mid-December 2023 to now, there have been 2 serious traffic jams at the airport gateway area, with widespread traffic jams lasting for many hours. Many vehicles transit through Truong Son Street to avoid surrounding "hot spots" such as Phu Nhuan intersection, Truong Chinh Street, Cong Hoa Street, etc., causing the number of vehicles on this route to increase even more. Truong Son Street is already overloaded, now with Cong Hoa Street "shouldering" the construction site of the Tran Quoc Hoan - Cong Hoa connecting road project, the pressure is even greater. The Ho Chi Minh City Urban Traffic Management and Operation Center assessed that Cong Hoa Street is under 150% overload pressure compared to its capacity. The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport also noted that the Tan Son Nhat airport gateway area in Tan Binh District in 2023 has 4 traffic jam risk points, of which 3 have changed but are still complicated: Cong Hoa - Hoang Hoa Tham intersection, Lang Cha Ca roundabout, Tran Quoc Hoan - Phan Thuc Duyen intersection; One point that has not changed is Truong Chinh Street from Au Co Street to Tan Ky Tan Quy Street. In addition, a new black spot for traffic accidents has emerged on the steel overpass at the Cong Hoa - Hoang Hoa Tham intersection.

Struggling with overloaded infrastructure

An airline representative confirmed that during some peak hours and peak days, flights to and from Tan Son Nhat airport were affected, while other hours of the day, flight operations were normal, with no congestion. During the upcoming Lunar New Year peak period, airline representatives said they would try to minimize flight delays because they not only inconvenience customers but also greatly affect the airline's operations. However, the infrastructure at Tan Son Nhat - the airport with the highest density of operations - currently has many shortcomings. For example, the runway only has one way to take off/land, so sometimes just a 5-10 minute delay in coordinating the shuttle bus or luggage cart for one flight can cause chain delays to the following flights. Therefore, with the high frequency of flights during the peak of the Lunar New Year, it is very difficult to avoid flight delays. Meanwhile, an official from the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) said that Tan Son Nhat Airport has been operating at about 20% over its design capacity for many years. The infrastructure is small and limited, and the units have tried their best to balance the organization, flow, and lanes in the most reasonable way, but they still cannot meet all the needs of passengers and airlines. Although the number of passengers passing through the airport during some peak periods has decreased compared to the same period last year, it is still exceeding the design capacity. It is inevitable that the airport is crowded, having to wait to check in or have delayed flights. Even with the taxi pick-up/drop-off area, if not distributed reasonably, it will lead to congestion and chaos right in front of the domestic terminal. "After the T3 terminal is built, the load on the two existing terminals will be greatly reduced. At that time, the allocation, coordination, and arrangement of all activities from air traffic to the ground will also be adjusted, making it more convenient for passengers," he informed. According to the leader of Tan Son Nhat International Airport, during the peak period of the Lunar New Year 2024, starting from January 26 to February 24, 2024, Tan Son Nhat Airport is expected to serve about 860 - 900 flights departing and arriving each day, with an average passenger volume of about 135,000 - 140,000 passengers/day. To prepare for this period, Tan Son Nhat International Airport has proactively held meetings before the peak and proposed unified plans with all units participating in the airport's operations; coordinated and arranged the "right person for the right job" personnel in a timely manner at the Operations Coordination Center; Increase staffing, develop detailed work plans at each location, as well as in emergency work; regulate vehicles and equipment reasonably, avoid congestion...

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has decided to adjust the runway coordination parameters and flight operations services during the period from January 25 to February 24 to 40 slots/hour from 6:00 a.m. to 11:55 p.m. at Noi Bai International Airport; increase the slot coordination parameters at Tan Son Nhat International Airport to 44 slots/hour from 6:00 a.m. to 11:55 p.m. and 40 slots/hour from 0:00 a.m. to 5:55 a.m. On the part of airlines, the Civil Aviation Authority requires proactive coordination, timely and continuous provision of information to airports, Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation and ground service units to ensure smooth and uninterrupted air passenger transport operations and ensure security, safety and service quality during air passenger transport. In case of flight delays or cancellations, it is necessary to promptly notify airports, airfields and related units to consider timely adjustments to service operations, avoiding wasting resources.

Are ground service operations at Tan Son Nhat airport disrupted?

According to a source of Thanh Nien , some ground service units at Tan Son Nhat airport are in the process of restructuring, there are some personnel changes leading to interruptions in service provision for airlines. That is the reason for the shortage of buses, cargo vehicles... during some peak hours, causing passengers to wait. Recently, Bamboo Airways has also terminated its cooperation with Saigon Ground Services Joint Stock Company (SAGS). Check-in, baggage handling, passenger buses... of Bamboo Airways from January 1, 2024 will be carried out by Pacific Airlines. In addition, also from January, 2 major airlines in Vietnam will have to cut their fleets due to engine recalls by manufacturers. The risk of delays will continue and increase after the total fleet of airlines continues to decrease in the coming period.

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