The heavy investment made recently by the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) to upgrade airports and develop new infrastructure still cannot satisfy the increasingly high travel demand.
The additional parking lots set up by ACV recently do not mean much if compared with demand, while airlines still have to scramble for the locations to park their aircrafts. Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat Airports had many meetings to discuss the allocation of parking lots but they were not useful.
Giao Thong quoted a high ranking executive of Vietnam Airlines as saying that the carrier’s fleet has 10-15 new aircraft every year while it has put next-generation aircrafts into operation. In 2015, Vietnam Airlines had 83 aircrafts, while the figure is expected to increase to 120 by 2020. This leads to a higher demand for parking lots and the upgrade of technical service areas.
Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, CEO of Vietjet Air, has repeatedly asked for more aircraft parking lots at the Tan Son Nhat, Noi Bai and Da Nang Airports. In 2016 alone, the air carrier needs at least 44 parking locations.
| The overloaded infrastructure is a major reason behind the high percentage of canceled and delayed flights. |
According to Tran Van Thang, ACV’s deputy CEO, ACV has arranged 11 new parking locations at Noi Bai, raising the total number of licensed locations to 70.
At Tan Son Nhat Airport, four new locations have been arranged for ATR72 aircrafts. The figures are 8 at Da Nang and 16 at Cam Ranh. However, he admitted that the additional supply still cannot satisfy the high demand from airlines.
Head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) Lai Xuan Thanh confirmed the lack of parking lots for aircrafts. He said all the four large airports including Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Danang and Cam Ranh need to have their parking areas expanded to satisfy the demand.
A CAAV report showed that in the first six months of 2016, airlines provided more than 128,000 flights, 15.8 per cent of which were delayed while the canceled flights amounted to 0.6 per cent.
About the reasons behind the delayed and canceled flights, the report pointed out that airlines’ technical problems were the direct reason of 10.3 per cent of delayed flights, while the lack of equipment at airports caused the delay of 6.2 per cent, or 1,250 flights.
Meanwhile, the problems in flight control at the departure airports were the reason behind the late arrival of 11.3 per cent of total delayed flights.
Thanh from CAAV said that until the Long Thanh Airport is built and put into operation, the overloading at Tan Son Nhat would still not be settled.
