Airlines ordered to end controversial quick check-in services

Dinh Viet Son, deputy head of the CAAV, said while the law doesn’t ban businesses from providing services to prioritize certain customers, but the extra fees for quick check-in procedures by certain airlines may negatively affect customer service quality, customers’ interest and generate negative social sentiments.

Airlines themselves have already had priority policies for business class customers. If a customer with an economic class ticket pays for the quick check-in services, they would enjoy the same level of quality as business class customers, meaning the business class customers wouldn’t have the extra benefits as reflected by the money they paid, Son said.

More importantly, the extra services cannot resolve congestion issues at airports, as all customers still have to go through available security checkpoints anyway.

Son said check-in procedures are part of an airport’s commercial services in accordance with regulations by the Ministry of Transport. Any adjustment to the services needs to be reported to the CAAV before they could be put into practice, he added.

Right now, the CAAV has deployed multiple measures to deal with flight delays and congestion issues at the airport, including upgrading airport’s infrastructures and service quality.

Certain airlines like Vietjet and Bamboo Airways had been charging passengers up to VND140,000 ($5.97) for quick check-ins at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport, sparking concerns of inequality. These services were only available at check-in booths by the airlines themselves, not at ordinary security checkpoints.

Some passengers have called out the service as discriminatory and promoting inequality, as two people with the same ticket prices could be checked-in hours apart if someone pays for the extra service.