Vietnam’s aviation watchdog, airlines and the management at Tan Son Nhat International Airport are pulling out all the stops to prevent the country’s busiest aerodrome from being overloaded during the last week ahead of the Lunar New Year.

The Ho Chi Minh City airport has entered its busiest time of the year, when people leave the southern metropolis en masse to return to their hometown for family reunions and holiday celebrations.

The Lunar New Year, or Tet, falls on February 8, but the ‘season of migration’ normally starts a week prior to the holiday.

An influx of overseas Vietnamese returning home to observe Tet exacerbates the pressure on Tan Son Nhat, which has already exceeded its design capacity of 25 million passengers a year.

In January alone, Tan Son Nhat served 2.5 million passengers, up more than 20 percent from the same period last year, according to the Southern Airports Authority.

There are now 720 landings and takeoffs at the terminal a day, a 14 percent rise from last year’s holiday, and some 100,000 passengers arrive in or leave Ho Chi Minh City via the airport on a daily basis, a 10 percent increase compared to a year earlier.

Missing flights due to traffic congestion on roads leading to the airport or endless queues at check-in and luggage scanning counters are travelers’ worst nightmare.

Airline representatives told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Sunday that they have dispatched their entire staff to work at the airport, and have hired more attendants to help flyers with check-ins.

Budget carrier Vietjet said it had increased the number of auto check-in machines to six from the previous two to help more passengers.

Vietjet also has a team of volunteers to guide passengers to the right check-in counters, as well as helping them with luggage scanning.

In the meantime, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has erected a large ‘check-in counter instruction’ panel in front of its hall, telling passengers which counters they should use, based on their destinations.

The check-in instruction panel of Vietnam Airlines. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The airline has also located its luggage wrapping and weighing machines right at the entrance to save time for passengers.

Such measures did appear to have worked as some Vietnam Airlines passengers responded with positive feedback.

“The time to complete flying procedures this year was greatly cut compared to last year,” said Nguyen Van Ha, who only needed 20 minutes to check in for his flight to the central city of Hue.

“We no longer had to waste time looking for the right check-in counter, thanks to the instruction board.”

The Tan Son Nhat management and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) have also enacted measures to prevent the airport from overloading.

“During the two weeks prior to Tet, we have increased the landing and takeoff frequency at the airport to 40 flights per hour, instead of 36,” said CAAV deputy head Vo Huy Cuong.

The CAAV has also asked airlines to adjust their schedules to ensure optimum operations.

A mother holds her child as they wait for a delayed flight at Tan Son Nhat. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A number of new baggage scanning machines have also been added at Tan Son Nhat to prevent long waiting lines, and a new taxi zone has opened to double the number of cabs picking up or dropping off passengers at the airport.

Truong Son Street, the main route leading to the airport, has also been upgraded and repaired to reduce traffic gridlock during peak hours.

Although various measures are being taken, it is still advised that passengers arrive at the airport at least three hours prior to departure, according to airlines.

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