We will strictly manage and handle more severely the act of criticizing customers, combining customers and charging extra fees for vehicles picking up and dropping off passengers at Vinh airport!

Unfair competition?

As the largest airport in the North Central region,Vinh International AirportCurrently, it is a 4E-class airport with a total area of ​​over 557 hectares; the 6th largest out of 14 international airports in Vietnam. On average, it welcomes 5,000 to 7,000 passengers per day, and during peak times, the number of passengers can reach 11,000 people per day.

Arriving at Vinh International Airport on a recent day, right from the airport intersection to the ticket gate, on the right side of the road there was a sign prohibiting stopping and parking cars, however, there were still many white and yellow license plate cars operating services, parked close together in a long row. When passengers got off the plane, they dragged their luggage straight to the gate to get on the car.

Going further inside, right on the left side of the overpass leading to the departure and arrival terminals, there is a car park. Among these vehicles, there are cars from the districts coming to pick up relatives, and there are also family taxis, without yellow plates, but still come to pick up passengers.

In the parking lot south of the domestic passenger terminal, there is a traditional taxi parking lot. It is known that taxi companies have to pay 150 million VND/month for 50 cars to operate. However, due to few customers and unfair competition from family taxis, unlicensed taxis, technology taxis... without service business signs, taxi companies only maintain about 30 cars in the waiting yard south of the domestic passenger terminal.

Through our research, we found that in recent times, this airport has not experienced congestion like other international airports. However, in reality, there is still a conflict of interest between traditional taxi services (through bidding to operate services at the airport), and technology taxis and family taxis (only buying entrance tickets and waiting to pick up passengers). On social networking sites, there are still complaints about taxi drivers who reject short-distance passengers, group passengers together and charge extra entrance fees...

Mr. Nguyen Canh Thang - Director of Mai Linh Nghe An Limited Liability Company (a member of Mai Linh Group Joint Stock Company) said: Vinh airport is located within the city, so most passengers arriving at the airport take short trips. Because they have to queue at the airport from 3am, meeting short-haul passengers also affects the driver's psychology to some extent. However, according to Mr. Thang, the unit has also thoroughly understood and issued regulations that drivers are not allowed to refuse to serve short-haul passengers, and are not allowed to ask the passenger's destination before getting on the bus...

However, in April 2024, Mai Linh Nghe An Limited Liability Company also fined 3 drivers for violations such as combining passengers, collecting extra gate fees from passengers and soliciting passengers before their turn to depart.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dat - Director of Van Xuan Nghe An Transport and Trading Joint Stock Company, also said that currently, the operation of taxi services at Vinh airport is facing many difficulties. Although the company has strict regulations on serving customers regardless of short or long distances, or not allowing passengers to be combined, in reality, there are still drivers who violate the regulations.

In fact, Mai Linh Nghe An Limited Liability Company and Van Xuan Nghe An Transport and Trading Joint Stock Company are also the two winning bids to operate at Vinh airport. Representatives of these two companies said that the reason for the decrease in the number of customers using traditional taxis is that currently at Vinh airport, there are many unlicensed taxis, family taxis, and technology taxis with white plates operating. These vehicles only have to pay an entrance fee and do not have to pay a bidding fee for an operating location, so the negotiation of fares with customers is not bound. In addition, there are many private cars using Facebook to post information about airport passenger transport services, and when passengers get off, they will pick them up. Not to mention, there are also ticket office cars from Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh provinces that also pick up passengers on their routes. This is the reason why many traditional taxi drivers are not interested in operating at the airport.

Close monitoring is required.

According to research, currently, at Vinh International Airport, there are 2 planned car parking areas, including the North car parking area and the South car parking area of ​​the domestic passenger terminal. Both of these areas have an area of ​​4,320m2.². In particular, the area south of the domestic passenger terminal is arranged as a waiting area for taxis licensed by the Port. The parking area north of the domestic passenger terminal is the parking area for contracted vehicles.

After the announcement of the invitation to bid, since September 2023, 6 units have registered to park at the contract parking lot. Of which, the Ha Tinh car parking lot has 4 units and the Thanh Hoa car parking lot has 2 units. Particularly, the taxi service location at the southern parking lot of the domestic passenger terminal has 2 winning units: Mai Linh Group Joint Stock Company at position 1 and Van Xuan Nghe An Transport and Trading Joint Stock Company at position 2 as mentioned above.

Mr. Nghiem Manh Tuan - Director of Vinh International Airport said: According to the regulations on management and exploitation of automobile transport services at Vinh International Airport, enterprises operating at the port must ensure compliance with regulations on operation, arrangement of parking locations, routes, speed of movement, time, stopping locations, pick-up and drop-off locations, number of vehicles... Must register service prices with competent authorities, publicly post fares. Enterprises licensed to exploit services must comply with signed contracts...

Faced with the situation of soliciting and combining passengers, causing chaos, Vinh International Airport has arranged security forces to be on duty at hot spots; announced hotline phone numbers at pick-up and drop-off points so that people can promptly report. In addition, the Airport has also issued regulations on rewarding and deducting points for units contracted to operate transportation services at the airport. If there are repeated violations, the unit will have its contract terminated...

Passenger transport at the airport is an important service activity, greatly affecting the building of Nghe An tourism brand. Therefore, management units, in addition to improving the professional skills of drivers, especially tourism skills, should make each driver a tour guide, introducing tourists to attractive tourist destinations when they arrive in Nghe An. It is necessary to raise awareness of serving tourists for each driver; limit behaviors that damage the image of Nghe An tourism such as soliciting, forcing prices...

At the same time, it is necessary to strictly manage vehicles entering and leaving the airport to pick up and drop off passengers, avoiding cases of vehicles operating disguised service businesses, not changing to yellow license plates, but still picking up and dropping off passengers, affecting the general transportation environment, causing unnecessary conflicts of interest, affecting the security and order situation inside and outside the airport area.