Two major international airports in Vietnam, including Noi Bai in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City, will pilot electronic toll collection (ETC) for vehicles entering and leaving the airports from February 6, the Airports Corporation Vietnam (ACV) said on Friday.

The state-run ACV is managing and operating 22 airports in the country, except for the Van Don airport in northern Quang Ninh Province.

ACV had teamed up with High Digital Technology JSC (HiTD) to introduce ETC systems at the Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports on a trial basis for one month, starting from February 6 to March 7.

HiTD, based in Hanoi’s Dong Da District, earlier won a bid worth over VND212 billion (US$8.7 million) to offer the ETC services at five airports in the country, namely Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang in central Da Nang City, Phu Bai in central Thua Thien Hue Province, and Cat Bi in the northern port city of Hai Phong.

For drivers entering and leaving the three airports of Tan Son Nhat, Noi Bai, and Da Nang within 10 minutes, they need to pay VND10,000 ($0.41) for cars with no more than nine seats, VND15,000 ($0.61) for cars with 10-30 seats, and VND25,000 ($1.02) for vehicles with more than 30 seats.

Official data showed that the Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports serve a daily number of 16,000-20,000 vehicles, but drivers entering and exiting the airports are required to stop at toll booths to pay fees in cash.

Such a manual toll collection process has resulted in congestion at entrances to the airports, especially during holidays when travel demand rises sharply.

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