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etJetAir, said sometimes his airline was forced to delay a flight
to find a passenger who checked in, but wandered off for cof-
fee, or to smoke instead of boarding on time. In such cases,
the airline tries to find the passenger, because if it cannot, it
must take of their luggage off, which takes a long time.
Tran Thuy Minh, director of the Southern Airport Authori-
ty, said the high rate of delays and cancellations has increased
since low-cost carriers joined the market.
“Many passengers are flying on low-cost carriers for the
first time, so they do not know much about aviation security
and safety regulations. Many of them do not follow the regula-
tions and even argue with airline staff causing delays,” he said.
On the first day CAAV started monitoring, a Vietnamese
passenger asked to get off a VietJetAir plane while the cabin
crew was preparing for take off. VietJetAir had to delay the
fight by one hour.
Another reason behind the delays and cancellations is the
overloading of airports. Tan Son Nhat International Airport,
for example, is designed to serve 29 flights per hour, but actu-
ally it is serving 33.
Dang Tuan Tu, director of Tan Son Nhat International Air-
port, said this means flights have to wait. Airplanes sometimes
have to circle around the Tan Son Nhat airport while they wait
for clearance to land.
However, CAAV believes two thirds of the delayed and
cancelled flights are due to the mistakes of the airlines them-
selves. The rest are caused by bad weather, technical mistakes
and overload at airports.
Since the CAAV started monitoring, the rate has reduced
by 14.35 per cent. This result reflects the efforts of airlines
to improve. VietJetAir, for example, arranged an airplane on
standby. “By doing that, we always have an airplane ready to
replace others when we face an unexpected problem,” said Le
Ngoc Lam, director of VietJetAir in the north region.
However, even though airlines are trying, reducing the
rate to five per cent - CAAV’s target - will not happen quickly.
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11
MANY PASSENGERS ARE
FLYING ON LOW-COST
CARRIERS FOR THE FIRST TIME,
SO THEY DO NOT KNOW MUCH
ABOUT AVIATION SECURITY AND
SAFETY REGULATIONS. MANY
OF THEM DO NOT FOLLOW THE
REGULATIONS AND EVEN
ARGUE WITH AIRLINE
STAFF CAUSING DELAYS