Airports flexing to arrange flights for Tet

Several measures have been applied to ease the overloading of airports during Tet . However, passengers have been warned that the overloading will be unavoidable.
On January 26, domestic airlines begin their Tet flight schedules with double the number of flights offered on ordinary days. While the number of flights increases considerably, the capacity of airports has not been upgraded. Therefore, airports will be very cramped and suffocating.
Taking-off and lending schedules rearranged
Bui Van Vo, Head of the Air Transport Division under the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), said that the “traffic congestion in the sky” observed over the past two years will not happen this year. However, many aircrafts will inevitably “wait on the peak of airports” (they have to circle above the airports before landing)..
Vo said that a slot clearance program has been initiated for the past month. Under the program, CAAV requested Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai airports to report the airspace capacity, airstrips and landing areas to rearrange take-off and landing schedules.
Every day, Tan Son Nhat airport now serves 370 flights, while the maximum capacity is 400 flights.
From January 26, 2011, or the 23rd of December of Lunar Year, the number of flights taking off from Tan Son Nhat or arriving at Tan Son Nhat airport will be sharply increasing and exceeding the above said threshold, thus causing management difficulties the airport, which serves both as military and civil airport.
At Noi Bai airport, about 170 flights take off or land every day. Meanwhile, the number of flights may increase to 290 flights during Tet..
With the number of additional flights air carriers cannot take initiative in arranging flight schedules for themselves, and they can only take off and land at times that fit the schedule of the airport. Therefore, many passengers will be inconvenienced because they have to fly at unfavorable times.
The national flag air carrier plans to provide 605 additional flights for Tet, Most of the flights will be provided from 10 pm to 6 am of the next day.
Truong Thanh Vu, the spokesman of AirMekong, the only private airline in Vietnam, said that due to the intensive flight schedule, the earliest flight during the day has to take off one hour sooner than previously planned.
On peak days, from the 29th of December of the Lunar Year to the 7th of January of the New Lunar Year, Air Mekong will provide 36 flights a day, or six flights more than its normal schedule. The air carrier has decided to reduce the number of flights to Da Nang in the central region to increase the number of flights on the main air routes, and to increase the flights from HCM City to Buon Ma Thuot and Pleiku.
Airports call for less people to meet and see off passengers
Airports have decided to close some entrance doors to the airports in order to reduce the number of people who meet and see off passengers, a move that aims to reduce the congestion at the airports during peak days.
Noi Bai airport, for example, has closed 7 out of 12 entrance doors on the second floor of the T1 terminal, and closed 7 entrance doors to the area, where passengers check in or out.
Since January 5, Vietnam Airlines has opened five more check-in desks at Noi Bai airport. AirMekong has seven desks.
Despite the great efforts, passengers have been warned that the overloading of the airport is unavoidable, because the number of passengers has exceeded the designed capacity. The T1 terminal of Noi Bai airport, for example, is capable of handling six million passengers a year, while in 2010, it received more than 9.5 million passengers.