The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) has urged major Vietnamese airlines to improve their adherence to assigned time slots at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City after many of them performed at a punctuality rate of less than 80 percent last month, causing disruptions to airport operations.

The CAAV recently sent a dispatch to Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Pacific Airlines, Bamboo Airways, and Vietravel Airlines, requesting them to ensure timely departures and arrivals and promptly address any delays or cancelations.

The aviation watchdog will maintain its surveillance and implement suitable actions against airlines that demonstrate low rates of punctual slot utilization.

The findings of slot monitoring conducted by the CAAV in May at Tan Son Nhat showed that during daytime hours, from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, for domestic routes, Pacific Airlines had a timely slot usage rate of 64.32 percent, or 138 unpunctual slots out of 569 assigned slots, while the corresponding rate of flights operated by Vietjet was 67.93 percent, with 532 of 2,002 flights failing to be carried out at the expected time.

Bamboo Airways stood out among the remaining airlines, having the highest percentage of punctuality at 95.13 percent, with only 25 unpunctual flights out of 575 alloted slots.

Vietnam Air Services Co. (VASCO), a subsidiary of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, with a relatively smaller number of allocated slots, 192, ranked second in terms of timely using them with a rate of 93.75 percent and only five unpunctual flights.

Vietravel Airlines maintained a commendable rate of 92.31 percent, with nine instances of trips failing to adhere to the designated time slots out of 117 granted slots.

Vietnam Airlines exhibited a punctuality rate of 90.63 percent, with 78 out of 1,952 allocated slots failing to be operated on time.

During the night, from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am the next day, on domestic routes, two airlines stood out for their timely slot usage, namely Bamboo Airways, with an 85.98-percent rate, and Vietnam Airlines, with an 84.69-percent rate.

Pacific Airlines demonstrated a punctual slot utilization rate of 76.77 percent, VASCO followed with a rate of 73.33 percent, Vietjet showcased a rate of 73.07 percent, while Vietravel Airlines exhibited the lowest rate of 55.56 percent.

Contrarily, Vietnamese airlines exhibited consistent timely slot usage, ranging from 96.49 percent to 100 percent during daylight hours, and achieved a higher rate of 97.62 percent to 100 percent during the night time frame.

There has been a surge in domestic flight operations during the current peak summer season starting at the beginning of this month, according to the CAAV.

Particularly, at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the number of flights has increased by 10-15 percent compared to the preceding period, with approximately 750 take-offs and landings occurring daily, primarily during daytime hours.

As per regulations, the CAAV conducts weekly statistics to evaluate airlines’ slot usage rate.

The agency will revoke slots that remain unused by airlines for five consecutive weeks, reallocating them to carriers with a punctuality rate above 80 percent.

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