Rushing back after Tet

On the last day of the 2025 Lunar New Year holiday, airports, train stations, and highways were bustling with workers from all provinces and cities rushing back to Ho Chi Minh City to begin a new year.

The airport and train station are busy but not overloaded.

Early in the morning of February 2nd (the 5th day of the Lunar New Year), Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Ho Chi Minh City) announced its plan to serve passengers on what is predicted to be the busiest day after the Lunar New Year. The last day of the Tet holiday coincided with a weekend, so many families chose this time to return to Ho Chi Minh City.

People returned to Ho Chi Minh City on the 5th, ending their Lunar New Year holiday of the Year of the Snake.

PHOTO: CAO AN BIEN

According to the plan, Tan Son Nhat Airport served more than 150,500 passengers and operated 979 flights, including over 93,000 arrivals and 57,000 departures. The figure of 150,500 set a new record for passenger traffic during the 2025 Tet holiday at the busiest airport in the country.

Representatives from Tan Son Nhat International Airport stated: Unlike the period before Tet (Lunar New Year) – when the large number of passengers put pressure on check-in areas, security screening areas, and waiting areas before boarding – this time, the peak arrival time is concentrated in the last one or two days of the holiday. This requires efficient coordination of take-offs and landings, bus and taxi services, and smooth and quick clearance of baggage claim areas.

To expedite the arrival of passengers, Tan Son Nhat Airport has increased its staff, and airport security personnel are also involved in coordinating and assisting passengers from the terminal and parking areas. During this time, due to the high demand for transportation by taxis and ride-hailing services, passengers have to wait quite a long time. In fact, ride-hailing drivers at Tan Son Nhat Airport reported that on February 1st (the 4th day of Tet), after 10 am, the airport received a very large influx of passengers. Taxis and ride-hailing services were constantly turning around but still couldn't keep up, and passengers had to wait a long time to get a ride. Therefore, from now until February 5th (the 8th day of Tet), two free shuttle buses will continue to be provided for passengers from the airport to the parking area in front of the airport gate to make it easier and more convenient to catch a ride, similar to the peak period before Tet.

Another notable point this year is that flights are scheduled throughout the day, from morning to night. Many families chose night and early morning flights to avoid the crowds at the airport as in previous years. Therefore, although the airport was busier than usual on the two peak days of the 4th and 5th of Tet, service, security, and aviation safety were still ensured.

According to observations by Thanh Nien reporters, the afternoon flight from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City during the "peak hours" - morning and noon - at Noi Bai Airport was crowded but not overloaded, and the security check and baggage screening areas were relatively clear. Similarly, the landing point at Tan Son Nhat Airport was also not congested, and people retrieved their luggage quickly and easily. In addition, according to a representative of Tan Son Nhat Airport, the demand for travel during the Lunar New Year holiday is increasing sharply, with many families choosing to travel abroad from the beginning of the new year instead of staying in their hometowns in the northern provinces until the end of Tet as before. Therefore, the pressure at Tan Son Nhat in the days after Tet is evenly distributed across the international terminal, not concentrated solely on the domestic terminal.

Similarly, at Saigon Station, the final days of the holiday were also getting busier. Most people traveling by train arranged to return to Ho Chi Minh City 1-2 days in advance to have more time to rest after the long journey. During the days from the 3rd to the 5th of the lunar month, trains arrived at the station at scattered times, and ride-hailing motorbike taxis and regular taxis were on standby to serve passengers, so there was no congestion or crowding. Passengers disembarked on time and quickly and orderly took transportation home.

The focus shifts to road transport.

While airports and train stations are much less congested than in previous years, the post-Tet congestion has shifted to highways. Before Tet, numerous highways from Ho Chi Minh City to provinces in the Eastern and Southwestern regions were gridlocked; and after Tet, this situation recurred, even more severely, as many families planning post-Tet trips also returned home around this time.

Cars lined up for kilometers heading towards Ho Chi Minh City yesterday afternoon.

PHOTO: HT

At noon yesterday, February 2nd, due to the large number of vehicles turning from Phan Thiet City onto the Ba Bau interchange to access the Phan Thiet - Dau Giay expressway to travel to Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City, the Highway Traffic Police Patrol Team No. 6 had to close the Ba Bau interchange and redirect traffic to National Highway 1A. The influx of vehicles from the expressway caused a serious traffic jam on National Highway 1A for nearly 3 hours. Vehicles moved inch by inch, forming queues stretching over 10 km from Ham Thuan Nam District to Ham Tan District (Binh Thuan Province).

"Complaining bitterly" on his personal Facebook page, Mr. Thanh Loc (residing in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City) recounted: His family returned to Ho Chi Minh City from Nha Trang on the afternoon of the 4th day of Tet (Lunar New Year), a day earlier than their scheduled return to work to avoid traffic jams. Unexpectedly, the entire stretch of the Cam Lam - Vinh Hao expressway, extending to the Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet section, was terribly congested. It took them more than 4 hours to get through the expressway, arriving in Phan Thiet at nearly 9 PM. With two young children at home, Mr. Loc decided to find a hotel to stay overnight and continue their journey back to Ho Chi Minh City the next morning.

"I had planned to leave early this morning, but when I woke up, my tire was suddenly flat, probably from running over a nail last night. It took a lot of calling for a tow truck to come and change the tire, and we couldn't leave until almost 11 a.m., right in the middle of a traffic jam on the way to Dong Nai. My family didn't have to go through National Highway 1; we just followed along the expressway, then onto the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway, and then we continued to move slowly. We only felt a little better after passing the An Phu interchange. All in all, the trip from Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh City took over 20 hours," said Mr. Thanh Loc.

The western gateway area, along National Highway 1, also started to experience heavy traffic from noon on February 1st (the 4th day of the lunar calendar), as tens of thousands of people from the Mekong Delta continuously flocked to Ho Chi Minh City. The closer they got to the city, the slower the traffic became, especially in the section through Binh Chanh District. The stretch of road from Nguyen Van Linh to Binh Dien Bridge and National Highway 50 (the section from Da Phuoc to Nguyen Van Linh) became increasingly congested towards evening on February 2nd. Many families on motorbikes carrying bulky luggage and gifts from their hometowns made these roads even more congested.

Anticipating that after the Lunar New Year holiday of the Year of the Snake, people from central and northern provinces would return to Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong , etc., for study and work, Highway Traffic Control Team No. 6 had planned in advance, developing traffic diversion plans in case of congestion or accidents causing prolonged traffic jams on the highways under their management. Accordingly, they proactively implemented traffic diversion plans from afar, flexibly regulating the volume of vehicles entering the highway, continuously opening and closing at interchanges, to avoid excessive traffic on the highway and localized congestion. However, due to the overwhelming number of people returning to the city, the usual tension after the holiday is unavoidable, as people rush back to the city for the new year.

Traffic police, in coordination with riot police, are on duty 24/7 at the intersections of the expressway and National Highway 1, working with the Ho Chi Minh City Police to regulate and manage traffic flow continuously at gateways, national highways, bus stations, train stations, airports, etc., to ensure the safe return of people to Ho Chi Minh City after Tet.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hoi-ha-tro-lai-sau-tet-185250202212118335.htm