Proposal to temporarily suspend airport entrance fees

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the prices of specialized aviation services are currently managed according to the provisions of the Law on Civil Aviation of Vietnam and related guiding documents. However, the circulars of the Ministry of Transport do not stipulate a list of prices for services using the runways leading to the airport terminal for cars picking up and dropping off passengers at airports.

Vinh Airport - Photo: Duc Dung

Currently, most airports in the region and around the world do not collect airport fees such as: Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, China, Malaysia, Japan...

However, there are still some airports that collect fees for using the runway leading to the airport terminal such as: Edmonton (Canada); Edinburgh (Scotland); Glasgow (Scotland), London Stansted and East Midland (UK), Cardiff (Wales).

Previously, the Government Inspectorate issued Inspection Conclusion Notice No. 27/TB-TTCP on compliance with policies and laws on management, use of capital, assets, equitization, divestment and restructuring of Vietnam Airports Corporation (ACV).

According to the conclusion, in the period from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2015 alone, the total revenue from collecting entrance fees at 19 airports was VND551 billion. The Government Inspectorate affirmed that this collection brought benefits to ACV and the State when ACV had not been equitized (ACV was equitized in 2016), but was not in accordance with the provisions of the Land Law and the Civil Aviation Law, causing damage to passengers and there is currently no way to completely remedy the situation.