Quality assessment reports submitted by airlines to Vietnamese aviation watchdogs have turned the spotlight on the country’s major carriers for dominating the industry’s rankings, shamefully, in terms of flight delay and cancellation.

According to the reports, which were processed by the air transport department of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), the Southeast Asian country’s locally-owned airlines – Vietnam Airlines, VietJet Air and Jetstar Pacific – handled more than 150,000 flights in the first six months of 2018, up nine percent year-on-year.

Among that, 20,566 were delayed and 434 were canceled.

National carrier Vietnam Airlines outperformed the competition in terms of the number of services, offering a combined total of 64,221 flights with 6,840 of them delayed and 140 canceled.

No-frills Vietjet Air operated a total of 60,362 flights, of which 10,235 were delayed and 66 were canceled.

Low-cost Jestar Pacific launched a total of 18,439 flights, including 3,577 flights behind schedule and 102 canceled services.

The number of passengers carried by the country’s airlines rose 15 percent year on year to 25 million passengers, according to CAAV.

With Vietjet Air leading in the number of delayed, or not-on-time, services, the Northern Airport Authority (NAA) has specifically monitored the turnaround time of the carrier’s aircraft at Noi Bai International Airport in order to figure out the reasons of the delays.

Turnaround time is the time for preparing an inbound aircraft at an airport for a following outbound flight that is scheduled for the same aircraft, including both the inbound and outbound exchanges of passengers, crew, catering services, cargo and baggage handling.

The results showed that 28 out of 35, or 80 percent of, Vietjet’s turnaround flights exceeded five to ten minutes of the time for activities of aircraft turnaround operations regulated by CAAV.

Actual turnaround time for each Vietjet Air flight is 43 minutes and 36 seconds, the main reason that explains the high record of delays of the no-frills airline, NAA concluded.

On the other hand, the Southern Airport Authority blamed overload at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City and an increase in the number of flights and passengers during peak seasons, which cause long queues at the airport, for late departures.

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