5 months of compensation of 10 billion VND for flight delays and cancellations

Within 5 months, Vietnam Airlines had to compensate passengers for delayed and canceled flights of 6.2 billion VND, while VietJet Air compensated 3.8 billion VND.

If a flight is canceled or delayed by more than 4 hours, the airline must compensate the customer. Illustrative photo

Airlines have had to pay this amount since Circular 14/2015 of the Ministry of Transport on compensation for delayed and canceled flights in aviation took effect.

Vietnam Airlines Corporation (Vietnam Airlines) said that the total amount of compensation that this company must pay to passengers who were denied transportation, passengers whose flights were delayed for a long time, and passengers whose flights were canceled from July 1 to November 30, 2015 according to the regulations in Circular 14 is up to more than 6.2 billion VND. As for the low-cost airline Vietjet Air, the amount of compensation for passengers during this period is also up to 3.8 billion VND.

According to the report of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (Ministry of Transport), in 2015, the rate of flight delays and cancellations of domestic airlines was 15-18%, a sharp decrease compared to 2014. However, during peak periods (July and August), the rate of flight delays and cancellations skyrocketed to over 22%. Of which, 90% was due to late arrival of aircraft, weather, 5% was due to technical errors...

Force majeure due to infrastructure overload

The General Director of a low-cost airline said that the rate of on-time flights of Vietnamese airlines is over 80%, which is quite high compared to other countries in the region. Flight delays and cancellations are not what any airline wants, but they still happen due to many reasons, most of which are objective, especially in the context of the overloaded infrastructure of some airports such as Tan Son Nhat.

“Domestic airlines are increasing the number of new routes and purchasing more aircraft… Not to mention, foreign airlines are also increasing flight frequency and opening new routes to Vietnam. Traffic congestion will be difficult to overcome when infrastructure has not been improved,” said a representative of a low-cost airline.

In particular, with the main flight route Hanoi-Saigon-Hanoi, due to traffic congestion in and out of the airport, overloaded airport infrastructure and even "sky" congestion, flights often have to queue up to wait for landing and takeoff, especially during peak times and weekends. Although airlines have increased the turnaround time for aircraft from 30 minutes to 40-50 minutes, and the "check-in" counter closes 40 minutes earlier than the departure time... the rate of delays and cancellations is still difficult to avoid.

Apply many solutions for the upcoming Tet holiday

Vietjet Air representative said that the airline is applying solutions to increase the rate of on-time flights such as improving flight schedule management and ensuring aircraft technical standards. Regarding the infrastructure at Tan Son Nhat airport during the peak season at the end of the year, Vietjet Air has worked with the ground service company and the airport to come up with better service solutions.

A representative of Vietnam Airlines said that the airline is reviewing and building a process for flexible coordination of infrastructure and equipment between airlines such as counters, boarding gates, and ground service equipment in case of unusual flights.

“The airline is proactively applying new information technology products such as check-in via phone, internet, and at automatic counters to reduce the load on airport areas and reduce waiting time for passengers… This is a core short-term solution during the time of upgrading infrastructure at airports,” said a representative of Vietnam Airlines.

On the part of the governing body, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has also coordinated with port authorities and airports to survey and update the operational capacity of airports, implement solutions to effectively coordinate take-off and landing times, and reduce congestion, especially during the peak holiday season and the upcoming Lunar New Year.

* Circular 14/2015-TT-BGTVT of the Ministry of Transport on “Regulations on non-refundable advance compensation in air passenger transport” clearly states the compensation level for each passenger for delayed or canceled domestic flights from 200,000-400,000 VND. The compensation level for international flights is from 25-150 USD.

According to Chinhphu.vn