Saigon’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport has much to be desired in the eyes of passengers.
On Monday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) released the results of a commuter survey conducted on the service quality of six international airports in Vietnam, reports Tuoi Tre. They are Phu Quoc Airport on Phu Quoc Island, Tan Son Nhat Airport in Saigon, Cam Ranh Airport in Nha Trang, Da Nang Airport in Da Nang, Cat Bi Airport in Hai Phong and Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi.
The study puts Hai Phong’s Cat Bi Airport at the No. 1 position in terms of customer satisfaction with a score of 4.56, followed by Cam Ranh (4.31), Da Nang (4.23), Noi Bai (4.22), Phu Quoc (4.04) and Tan Son Nhat (3.96).
To come up with the scores, CAAV distributed 25,000 questionnaires between October to December last year. Passengers were asked to rank seven aspects of airport service from one to five: departure terminals, check-in counters, security screening, immigration, departure lounges, arrival terminals and public transport. The final score was the average of all seven criteria.
According to CAAV, passengers were happy with the top three airports because they all received upgrades in 2018 — new investments at Da Nang and Cat Bi while a new international terminal was opened at Cam Ranh.
A previous survey carried out in 2017 by CAAV with just three aerodromes Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang and Noi Bai put Da Nang as Vietnam’s best airport with a score of 4.19. Tan Son Nhat’s service quality, however, remains at 3.96 in both studies, a “commendable result” according to CAAV as Tan Son Nhat had to serve 6.4% more passengers last year for a total of 38 million travelers.
Currently, there are some efforts to relieve pressure on Tan Son Nhat, brought about by rocketing demand for air travel in the southern region. Aviation authorities are pushing for a 2020 start on Long Thanh Airport in Dong Nai. Another solution that’s gaining traction is a proposal to construct a third terminal at Tan Son Nhat Airport to increase its service capacity.
[Photo via Bao Moi]
