The managers of Tan Son Nhat International Airport have enacted some measures to improve its service quality, in the wake of a quality assessment report that pinpoints myriad shortcomings of Vietnam’s busiest airport earlier this week.

The improvements include upgrading the Wi-Fi system, installing more free water fountains and improving the cleaning and food services at the Ho Chi Minh City-based airport, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) said in a recent report to the Ministry of Transport.

These are among many issues pointed out in a report the CAAV has been tasked by the transport ministry with conducting in October, following a groundswell of complaints from passengers, and a low ranking from a travel guide website.

Tan Son Nhat, which was selected as Asia’s fourth-worst airport in 2015 by travel site The Guide to Sleeping in Airports, regularly exceeds its capacity of 25 million passengers a year, and is expected to handle 26 million passengers this year, according to the quality assessment.

The airport’s service quality is therefore greatly affected by its overloading status and many other factors, but “some of which have been improved in recent time,” the CAAV said in the latest report.

New signs of aviation regulations, taxi and restaurant services have been put on at the terminal, while a simplified baggage scan procedure is also in place to help passengers save time when leaving Vietnam via Tan Son Nhat.

The procedure combines the scanning of carry-on and checked luggage into one, with airport security and customs officers performing the task together instead of separately.

The Tan Son Nhat managers said they will also ‘fix’ the attitude and behavior of employees at the airport, especially the security officers.

A special team from the CAAV is also working on a set of standards, which will provide the ground for a systematic quality supervision and assessment at the airport. The document is slated for completion by December 15.

A new software program in charge of managing the landing and takeoff allocations at the airport is also expected to be deployed by the end of next year, according to CAAV chief Lai Xuan Thanh.

From now to the end of 2015, Tan Son Nhat is required to complete several projects, including building a new taxi area for the domestic terminal, and renewing the old chairs and adding new ones in the boarding hall.

In May 2016, the project to expand the airport apron at Tan Son Nhat should be finished, whereas the expansion plan for the international terminal is required to be completed in August that year, the CAAV ruled.

The CAAV is also studying on launching the passenger satisfaction rating systems, both via machines located at the airport or on its website, in 2016 to better listen to passengers.

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