Thousands of passengers were left ‘stranded’ at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday as their flights home for Tet celebrations were repeatedly delayed.

The incident came as no surprise as Vietnam is experiencing a travel rush when internal migrants in big cities return to their hometowns to observe the Lunar New Year that begins this Friday.

Celebrations for Tet, the biggest family reunion of the year, are normally ongoing during the week before and after the date.

A number of low-cost Vietjet passengers arrived at the Ho Chi Minh City airport on Monday night only to know that their flights had been delayed due to “late aircraft arrival.”

The waiting room at the departure terminal was overloaded between 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm, when thousands of passengers who had completed security screening were unable to board their flights home.

Vietjet had to repeatedly announce its flight delays via the loudspeakers system, with some flights having their departure time adjusted two to three times.

A flight delay announcement

Many exhausted flyers had to lie on the floor waiting, while others had to buy extra food. Families who traveled with babies and the elders suffered the worst inconvenience.

As of 8:30 pm the same day, the waiting hall of the domestic departure terminal remained packed with tired passengers.

The travel rush, whereby students, workers and people working in big cities return to their hometown for the biggest family reunion of the year, began on Friday when it was less than a week away from the holiday.

Tan Son Nhat is expected to serve 4 million passengers during the Tet travel rush.

Below are some photos taken by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper: