Tan Son Nhat airport domestic terminal to get bus services

By Gia Minh March 3, 2022 | 09:35 pm PT

Chaos at the domestic terminal of Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City as cars pick up arrivals, February 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Minh

Public buses will start plying inside the domestic terminal at HCMC’s Tan Son Nhat airport to facilitate easier transportation for air passengers.

A lane has been earmarked for buses following the congestion and chaos outside the terminal at the end of the Lunar New Year holidays in early February when people returned to the city en masse, the city Department of Transport said.

Many passengers had to wait for hours for taxis, both traditional and app-based ones, blocking the way for vehicles.

Buses already go into the international terminal.

According to the Southern Airports Authority, the number of passengers at the airport on Feb. 6, the last day of the Lunar New Year break, hit 66,500, up 6,000 against the previous day.

On Feb. 4, the number of passengers rose by 50 percent against the day before to 97,000.

Tan Son Nhat was designed to have an annual capacity of 25 million by 2020, but by 2017 the number of passengers topped 40 million.

This has put huge pressure on its infrastructure.