HCMC to construct parking lot for taxis, ride-hailing vehicles near Tan Son Nhat

Tran Quang Lam, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, said on Tuesday that the parking lot is next to the entry into the international terminal of the airport, and also next to the corner of the Bach Dang-Truong Son-Hong Ha streets in the Tan Binh District.

HCMC authorities have instructed the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment to look into procedures to make the parking lot a reality. The transport department said it would invite relevant units to conduct surveys regarding the plan, and that it would propose to the city that it make the land lot a temporary parking place for taxis and ride-hailing vehicles to relieve the parking shortage during Tet.

Tan Son Nhat International Airport is likely to become a “traffic hotspot” for HCMC during the upcoming Tet holiday, from January 20 to 26. Lam said that in addition to increasing the number of night flights and improving traffic connectivity between the airport and other areas in the city, there needs to be other plans to prevent congestion. These include extending hours of operation for buses and requesting taxi and ride-hailing services to increase the number of vehicles in order to move people away from the airport more quickly, he added.

Previously, Nguyen Cong Hoan, deputy director of Tan Son Nhat airport, said the construction of a parking lot is vital to relieve the traffic problem in the area. Peak periods of Tet at the airport should be from around January 1 to February 2 next year, with around 120,000-130,000 visitors coming to the airport every day. To meet demand around 30-40 taxis would be needed every minute. Lam added that such a high demand for transport would make congestion likely.

“With another parking lot outside, taxis and ride-hailing vehicles would be arranged to stop by the parking lot before going to the terminals to pick up guests, reducing congestion,” Hoan said.

The number of visitors to Tan Son Nhat International Airport this Tet are expected to be even higher than during pre-pandemic levels. Most of them would be passengers on domestic flights.

The airport is expected to receive over 3.8 million passengers and around 27,000 flights, a 10% increase in the number of passengers from the same period in 2019, before the pandemic broke out.