VietNamNet Bridge – Several
measures have been applied to ease the overloading of airports during Tet .
However, passengers have been warned that the overloading will be unavoidable.

On
January 26, domestic airlines begin their Tet flight schedules with double the
number of flights offered on ordinary days. While the number of flights
increases considerably, the capacity of airports has not been upgraded. Therefore, airports will be very cramped and
suffocating.

Taking-off and lending schedules
rearranged

Bui
Van Vo, Head of the Air Transport Division under the Civil Aviation Authority
of Vietnam (CAAV), said that the “traffic congestion in the sky” observed over
the past two years will not happen this year. However, many aircrafts will
inevitably “wait on the peak of airports” (they have to circle above the
airports before landing)..

Vo
said that a slot clearance program has been initiated for the past month. Under
the program, CAAV requested Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai airports to report the
airspace capacity, airstrips and landing areas to rearrange take-off and
landing schedules.

Every
day, Tan Son Nhat airport now serves 370 flights, while the maximum capacity is
400 flights.

From January 26, 2011, or the 23^rd of December of Lunar Year, the
number of flights taking off from Tan Son Nhat or arriving at Tan Son Nhat
airport will be sharply increasing and exceeding the above said threshold, thus
causing management difficulties the airport, which serves both as military and
civil airport.

At
Noi Bai airport, about 170 flights take off or land every day. Meanwhile, the
number of flights may increase to 290 flights during Tet..

With the number of additional flights air carriers cannot take initiative in
arranging flight schedules for themselves, and they can only take off and land
at times that fit the schedule of the airport. Therefore, many passengers will
be inconvenienced because they have to fly at unfavorable times.

The
national flag air carrier plans to provide 605 additional flights for Tet, Most of the flights will be provided from 10
pm to 6 am of the next day.

Truong
Thanh Vu, the spokesman of AirMekong, the only private airline in Vietnam, said
that due to the intensive flight schedule, the earliest flight during the day
has to take off one hour sooner than previously planned.

On
peak days, from the 29^th of December of the Lunar Year to the 7^th
of January of the New Lunar Year, Air Mekong will provide 36 flights a day, or
six flights more than its normal schedule. The air carrier has decided to
reduce the number of flights to Da Nang in the
central region to increase the number of flights on the main air routes, and to
increase the flights from HCM
City to Buon Ma Thuot and
Pleiku.

Airports call for less people to
meet and see off passengers

Airports
have decided to close some entrance doors to the airports in order to reduce
the number of people who meet and see off passengers, a move that aims to
reduce the congestion at the airports during peak days.

Noi
Bai airport, for example, has closed 7 out of 12 entrance doors on the second
floor of the T1 terminal, and closed 7 entrance doors to the area, where
passengers check in or out.

Since
January 5, Vietnam Airlines has opened five more check-in desks at Noi Bai
airport. AirMekong has seven desks.

Despite
the great efforts, passengers have been warned that the overloading of the
airport is unavoidable, because the number of passengers has exceeded the
designed capacity. The T1 terminal of Noi Bai airport, for example, is capable
of handling six million passengers a year, while in 2010, it received more than
9.5 million passengers.

Source: Nguoi lao dong