Aviation authorities blame limited infrastructure for HCMC airport baggage delays

In a recent report it sent to the Ministry of Transport, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) said the terminal at the airport was built years ago, and the baggage carousels have failed to keep pace with the number of passengers using the airport.

The report came in response to a VnExpress article about passengers complaining about becoming exhausted from waiting to claim their baggage.

According to the CAAV, the aircraft are parked far away from the terminal and so it takes a lot of time to transport luggage from the plane to the belt.

The time taken for the first baggage to reach the carousel after a plane halts is eight to 15 minutes, and for the last one, 27-43 minutes.

However, for aircraft parked far from the terminal, they increase to 27-42 minutes and 38-71 minutes.

To temporarily ease the situation, the CAAV has told the Southern Airport Authority to dispatch more staff to the conveyor belts to supervise things and assist passengers, especially when it is crowded.

During the five-day holiday starting this month-end for Hung Kings’ commemoration, Reunification Day and May Day (April 29-May 3), the airport is expected to handle 756,000 passengers, more than 30% higher than last year.

Tan Son Nhat is the country’s busiest airport with an average of 60,000-70,000 passengers a day.

Last year it served 34 million passengers as against its designed capacity of just 28 million.