Overcrowded airports drive up flights cost

It is costing hundreds of billions of dong in waiting time at Vietnam's most crowded airports at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat, according to a report by Vietnam Airlines.

Planes wait to take off at Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM City.

According to the national flag carrier, during prime hours, planes have to wait between 15-30 minutes trying to take off or land at Tan Son Nhat Airport, which is not only annoying passengers but also wasting the airlines’ money.

A report by the airlines showed that flight time of local airlines increased by 1,392 hours due to overcrowding at local airports in 2016, which resulted in an extra cost of VND 188 billion (USD8.31 million).

It is predicted that the situation will not improve this year due to upgrade plans at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports at the end of the year, which means they can only operate at some 70% capacity. During that time, Noi Ban can only serve 22-24 flights per hour compared to their full capacity of 35 flights an hour, and Tan Son Nhat will only serve 28-30 flights an hour, down from its usual 40-42 flights an hour.

Vietnam Airlines and other local airlines are expected to cut daily flights by 15% at Tan Son Nhat Airport during that time.