Vietjet Air is asking for government help as thousands of Vietnamese women continue to be refused entry to Singapore, leaving the budget airline having to foot the bill for the unscheduled return flights.
Vietnamese women continue to be refused entry to Singapore
"In the first six months, 1,515 Vietnamese passengers were denied entry without any explanation even though they have all documents," representative of Vietjet Air said.
The spokesperson went on to say that both the reputation and revenues of the carrier had been damaged. He claimed the airline had to spend huge amounts of money on locked rooms and guards for blacklisted passengers. According to Vietjet Air, they spent over SGD1 million for these services since they opened the route from HCM City to Singapore.
He added that due to the limited legal framework and guiding documents, airliners do not have enough authority to advise and prevent passengers who they think have high chances of being refused, from boarding.
Vietjet Air hoped the Singaporean agencies more quickly deal with passengers that have been refused so that the carrier fly them back on the next flight, limiting the waiting time and fees they have to spend at Singapore’s airport. The carrier also asked Singaporean agencies to lower the fees the airline has to pay for security.
The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam said most of the passengers turned back were young women.
Le Hai Binh, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on July 23 that this problem has actually existed for a long time but only recently received attention. They still are working with Singaporean agencies over this problem.
No proper explanation has been given by Singaporean authorities, but the block on entry for many Vietnamese women has largely thought to be based on assumption they are seeking illegal employment opportunities in the island city, including prostitution.
