HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - The Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM Cityis adding more staff, opening early check-in counters, and using allavailable security scanners to reduce increasing congestion at the site. 

Prolonged congestion at security screening areas in the airport has causeddelays in flights and frustration among many passengers. Some have missed theirflights as they had to queue for hours for security screening.

The Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) and Tan Son Nhat InternationalAirport (TIA) on April 19 said that the operating capacity granted by theCivil Aviation Authority of Vietnam allows up to 1,728 persons perhour at the security gate at Hall A and up to 1,584persons per hour at Hall B.

However, at peak hours between April 14 and April 19 Hall A had 2,100 to2,400 passengers per hour, which exceeded the design capacity by 25to 30 percent.

Many flights using large planes and departing at the same hour between 5:30amand 9:30am have also added to the crowded situation. 

In addition, many passengers are taking multiple carry-on bags,prolonging the time needed to scan items.

Adding to the congestion are the further random checks of atleast 10 percent of passengers who have already gone through securityscreening. 

This is being done under instruction from the Civil AviationAuthority of Vietnam, which asked for stronger security checks.However, to reduce congestion, TIA has stopped implementing this securitycheck.

As for the centralised take-off and landing in the morning andafternoon causing congestion at the airport, a representative of VietnamAirlines said the landing turn slots were granted by the Vietnam AviationAdministration.

In fact, the flights of Vietnam Airlines and PacificAirlines are spread out through the day and the HCM City - Hanoiroute has a new flight every 30 minutes.
However, due tolocal travel demand, which is mostly in the morning and during peakhours, congestion has occurred fairly often during these time frames.

To reduce congestion, especially during the upcoming holidays of April 30 andMay 1, ACV and TIA decided to open 100 percent of security scanners andallocated more staff to help customers.

They have also added informative signage to smooth thepassenger security scanning process, among other measures.

ACV has told TIA to develop efficient operation plans,including ensuring clearance in security areas between Hall A andHall B, opening more aircraft doors for domestic flights, and adding morestaff to check up on all passengers and ensure that they do not miss theirflights. 

Another option being considered by the airport is installation of moresecurity scanners in Hall A.

For a long-term solution, ACV is working with authorities to speed up thehandover of land that will be used to build the new passengerterminal T3, with a capacity of 20 million passengers per year.

It will also invest in more modern devices to ease congestion in thearea.

Meanwhile, to reduce pressure during rush hours, Vietnam Airlines hasencouraged passengers to complete their check-in on its website or atautomatic check-in machines prior to their flights.

The airline has also allocated staff with mobile devices at Tan SonNhat in HCM City and Noi Bai airport in Hanoi to help passengerscheck in more efficiently. The airline has reserved a separatecheck-in counter for passengers travelling between HCM City and Hanoi.

“These solutions have demonstrated Vietnam Airlines’ effort to reduce the loadand avoid congestion at large airports such as Hanoi and HCM City,” arepresentative said.

He said that passengers who plan to travel on the occasion of April 20 andMay 1 should book flights soon and complete booking requirements asmuch as possible online.

“The filling of medical declarations has also worsened the congestion problemat the airport. This is a mandatory procedure before departure, andpassengers should do it at home to save time,” he added./.