Vietnam Airlines delays full transfer of domestic flights to HCMC new terminal

Only flights from HCMC to Hanoi and Van Don Airport in the northern Quang Ninh Province are being operated from the new terminal, the airline announced Sunday, more than a week after the inauguration of T3, now the largest domestic terminal in Vietnam with an annual capacity of 20 million passengers.

Initially, the national flag carrier had intended to move all domestic flights to the new terminal within this month, but this has been postponed for adjustments "based on actual conditions."

Vietnam Airlines, which accounts for nearly 50% of the domestic market share, will coordinate with relevant agencies to finalize the new timeline.

Until then all its other domestic services and those of Pacific Airlines and VASCO, its two subsidiaries, will continue operating from T1.

A spokesperson for the carrier said since some flights were moved to T3, passengers have "enjoyed convenient travel and a seamless experience at the new terminal."

In the one week since the terminal's inauguration, the airline has operated more than 390 flights and serves over 100,000 passengers there.

Vietjet Air's domestic flights too have not been moved to T3 as originally planned ahead of the National Reunification Day and Labor Day holidays and are still operating from T1.

T3 was inaugurated on April 19, two months ahead of schedule, taking the airport's annual capacity to 50 million passengers.

Its construction, at a cost of nearly VND11 trillion (US$423 billion) by the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), began at the end of 2022.

It also has a multi-story parking lot and a viaduct system.

The terminal, with separate departure and arrival areas, has 90 check-in counters, 20 self-service baggage drop counters, 42 check-in kiosks, and 27 boarding gates.

The multi-story parking lot has six floors, two of them underground, which also house shops, hotel, and restaurants to serve passengers.