Service fees to increase at airports Vietnam

21/03/2006 (GMT+7)

The prices of some services for passengers on local flights will increase from VND25,000 to VND30,000 at Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai airports. Tan Son Nhat will increase airport fees from US$12 to $14 to match Noi Bai’s current fees.

According to a decision by the Ministry of Finance, dated March 13, the fees for luggage check and passenger service (collected from airways) will also increase. The former will rise from $30-70 per one international flight to $30-170/flight (equivalent to 40.51/passenger with seat occupancy rate of 70%). Fees for domestic flights will still be unchanged. 

The two kinds of fees that will not change are take-off fees and transit air-control service fees. In fact, the air-control fees for incoming and outgoing flights will be reduced for both local and foreign airlines. For international routes, foreign airways will enjoy a reduction of 25%, which will put them at the same level as domestic airlines. 

This is the first move by Vietnam’s civil aviation sector to bring fees in line with the average levels in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.

 Contrary to the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority’s assessment that the adjustment will not strongly affect the operation of domestic airlines, Vietnam Airlines predicts big impacts. “Each year input expenditures of Vietnam Airlines will increase by hundreds of billions of dong and it will surely affect the airlines’ operation,” said Vietnam Airlines Deputy General Director Pham Ngoc Minh.  

According to Mr. Minh, the Ministry of Finance should consider adjusting the ceiling for airfares to help airlines.

(Source: NLD)