As many as 1,515 Vietnamese passengers flying VietJet Air have been denied entry into Singapore in the first half of this year, according to Tuoi Tre News. Despite showing sufficient paperwork, the majority of travelers who have been refused by the Singaporean authorities are women and, in most cases, the reason for their stoppage is unclear.
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This creates a headache for both the passengers and the airline carriers, as both parties incur unnecessary costs. For each person detained, a local airline carrier must pay SGD$17/hour for occupation in a detention room and a further SGD$32/hour for the passenger's supervision. On paper, the airline should be able to recover these costs from the passenger upon returning to Vietnam, however the money is almost never retrieved.
Once a refusal is confirmed, a return journey to Vietnam has to be scheduled, creating further costs for the airline carrier. According to VietJet, the carrier has lost over SGD$1 million ever since the introduction of its route between Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore 15 months ago.
In a statement to the Vietnam Administration of Tourism, the Singapore Tourism Board stressed that it welcomes all Vietnamese visitors to Singapore, however travelers and airline carriers alike are still awaiting a clear explanation as to why so many Vietnamese visitors are being turned away at immigration.
