A fifth of flights from Vietnam delayed in July as travel peaks

A fifth of flights from Vietnam delayed in July as travel peaks

Passengers wait for their flights at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo credit: TBKTSG

The number of delayed flights by Vietnamese carriers rose to a fifth all flights in July, as the airlines said they failed to cope with the high summer travel demand.

Statistics from the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) showed that the rate of flight delays has jumped up 4.3 percentage points from June to 21.2 percent, while flight cancellations remained almost unchanged.

It showed that 21.2 percent of Vietnam Airlines flights were delayed, so as 23.5 percent of VietJet Air flights, 20.7 percent of Jetstar Pacific flights and 7 percent of flights by Vietnam Air Services Company (Vasco).

CAAV attributed the “bold increase” in flight delays to the surge in travel demand.

Carriers had to add flights which led to congestion at airports, it said.

It also blamed repair work at a runway of Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport between July 16 and 19 and bad weather, especially in the south, for the delays.

The agency said that the total number of delayed flights in the first half of this year was 15 percent, down 5.6 percentage points year-on-year, and canceled flights down 2.6 percentage points.

It said it would work with the carriers to adjust the flight time to prevent further delays, and will make sure that affected travelers are informed and compensated properly.

A new regulation effective from July requires airlines to pay travelers VND200,000 and VND400,000 a passenger for delays on domestic flights, and between $25-150 for international flights.

The government also introduced a policy in March saying local airlines must give their customers refunds for flight delays of five hours or more.

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