Taxis under 6 years old are allowed to carry passengers in Noi Bai?

Many taxi transport businesses have reported that Noi Bai Airport's regulation that taxis operating at this airport must be no more than 6 years old is against regulations.

How are taxis licensed to operate at the airport?

Mr. Dang Tuan Anh, Director of Thanh Loi Taxi, said that not only Thanh Loi but also many taxi businesses are very upset about Noi Bai International Airport's decision to set a regulation that the age limit for taxis operating at Noi Bai is no more than 6 years. "Noi Bai International Airport is just a business so it cannot set its own regulations," said Mr. Tuan Anh.

Some taxi companies have directly reported this issue to the Ministry of Transport. The companies believe that this regulation of Noi Bai Airport is against the law.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hung, Director of Noi Bai International Airport, said that the policy of selecting franchisees to exploit passenger transport services by taxi was built by Noi Bai International Airport since 2014 on the basis of current legal regulations on transport service business and specialized regulations of the aviation industry with the goal of selecting units with capacity and experience, meeting the specific operating conditions of the airport and airport as well as improving the quality of passenger services.

The standard of no more than 6 years for passenger taxis at Noi Bai has made many taxi businesses angry (In photo: Taxi picking up passengers at Noi Bai Airport).

Noi Bai International Airport stipulates that vehicles licensed to operate at the port must be operated for no more than 6 years from the date of first issuance of the vehicle registration certificate. After the 6-year period, taxi companies can continue to use the vehicles in other areas according to current law.

“Previously, Circular 16/2010 of the Ministry of Transport stipulated that “airport operators must publicly announce and implement policies for selecting franchised taxi companies…, and issue regulations for controlling taxi operations at airports,” Mr. Hung said.

Circular 17/2016 replacing Circular 16 also clearly states that enterprises providing passenger terminal exploitation services select taxi companies that are licensed to operate at the terminal according to the principle of ensuring transparent competition..., issue regulations to control taxi exploitation at the airport; ensure the minimum number of taxis licensed to operate meets the demand and passenger output according to the exploitation time frame.

In fact, Noi Bai is an international airport, the gateway to Hanoi with a very large passenger volume and a rapid growth rate. In 2015, Noi Bai welcomed 17.2 million passengers, in 2016 it was 20.6 million passengers and in 2017 it is expected to be about 22 million passengers. According to statistics from this airport, on average in 2017, there were about 65,000 passengers passing through Noi Bai every day.

Currently, the port is franchising to 13 taxi companies with an average of about 1,200 vehicles operating. Due to the geographical location (far from the center), the frequency of vehicle operations is high, on average each vehicle runs 3-4 trips/day, the operating distance is about 250-350km/day (equivalent to about 90 thousand km/year by a private car operating for 6 years in the city).

This is also the reason why Noi Bai International Airport believes that it is necessary to regulate the age of taxis to no more than 6 years to ensure the quality of vehicles serving at the port. In addition, according to the leader of this port, non-aviation services provided at the terminal are closely linked to the passenger service process in the air transport chain.

The purpose of providing non-aviation services is to improve the passenger service process, ensure security and order, improve service quality and ensure the legitimate rights and needs of air passengers. Therefore, choosing a unit providing passenger transport services by taxi is also not outside of that purpose.

Is it illegal?

According to taxi companies, the above explanation of Noi Bai Airport is not satisfactory and unfair. This regulation is not in accordance with Decree 86 of the Government on business and conditions for business of automobile transportation. Specifically, Decree 86 clearly states: Taxis have a term of use of no more than 8 years in special urban areas, no more than 12 years in other localities.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, said that in terms of legal documents, Decree 86 is in effect and enterprises have the obligation and responsibility to comply with Decree 86.

There are currently 14 taxi companies being franchised to operate at Noi Bai airport.

Sharing this view with Noi Bai International Airport, an aviation expert said that bidding to select taxi service operators at Noi Bai with strict conditions is necessary due to the specific operation and high service quality requirements of an international airport. However, this person also said that the regulations on taxi age in Decree 86 are in effect and Noi Bai International Airport has the obligation to comply and propose appropriate amendments if deemed necessary.

Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Road Administration Phan Thi Thu Hien also affirmed the view that Noi Bai International Airport needs to strictly comply with the regulations in Decree 86 of the Government.

According to Giao Thong Newspaper