Regarding the information that passengers taking taxis at Tan Son Nhat International Airport have to pay extra fees, the Civil Aviation Authority has requested that the Southern Airports Authority coordinates with relevant agencies and units to verify the cause and implement solutions to address the information reflected by passengers.
Tan Son Nhat International Airport will proceed to select passenger transport units by car according to the approved selection plan with a minimum service price. After completing the selection of transport units, this unit will have a reporting document.
Regarding the reflection of passengers waiting to pick up their luggage upon entering the country, the Southern Airports Authority has cooperated with Tan Son Nhat International Airport to survey some flights.
Specifically, the time to return luggage from when the plane is parked near positions (13,14,15,16) for the first item of luggage is 8-15 minutes, and the last item is 27-43 minutes; from when the plane is parked at far positions (76,80,87,91) for the first item of luggage, it takes 27-42 minutes, and the last item takes 38-71 minutes.
Through actual survey work and the current state of infrastructure at Tan Son Nhat Airport, the cause of the prolonged luggage return time is due to the increasing number of international flights and the high volume of passengers. During some peak hours, passengers have to wait to complete immigration procedures before picking up their luggage, resulting in a longer total time for passengers to enter the country and retrieve their luggage.
Furthermore, due to the characteristics of this airport having many far parking positions, when luggage trolleys move to the luggage conveyor area, it takes 15-17 minutes.
In addition, the infrastructure of the passenger terminal is still limited. The domestic passenger terminal at the airport was built many years ago, has been renovated several times, and the area of the luggage conveyor is still limited, making it difficult for passengers to access the conveyor, leading to the release of luggage on the conveyor for some flights with many passengers or much luggage, causing delays.
In this situation, the Civil Aviation Authority has requested the airport authority to work with relevant units and require these units to implement solutions to address the situation. Earlier, the press reported that when taking a taxi from the airport, passengers had to pay an extra fee of 24,100-34,100 VND per trip for two types of fees, including entrance fee (10,000 VND), airport fee (9,100 VND/trip, not including tax), and taxi fee “transit” for the TCP transport unit (5.000-15.000 VND).
Therefore, the Ministry of Transport has requested Tan Son Nhat International Airport and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport to study the feedback on additional fees for airport taxi passengers.
In addition, the agency has also urged the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam and the Vietnam Airport Corporation to urgently study and work with customs and immigration authorities on the issue of passengers waiting long to retrieve their luggage upon arrival.
From April 28 to May 3, Tan Son Nhat International Airport is expected to operate nearly 4,500 domestic and international flights, equivalent to nearly 760,000 passengers. Thus, the total number of flights through Tan Son Nhat increases by nearly 19% and the total number of passengers increases by nearly 33% compared to the same period in 2022.
“On the peak day of the holiday period, the airport will operate up to 810 flights. This is also one of the pressures on the airport in the context of limited airport infrastructure,” a representative of Tan Son Nhat Airport told Zing.
@Zing News
Source: Vietnam Insider