Passengers crowd security area of int’l airport in Ho Chi Minh City

An ocean of passengers continued flooding Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday morning, crowding the security screening area, ahead of a national holiday.

The crowding was attributed to the rising demand for travel as Vietnam is about to commemorate the death of the Hung Kings, considered the founding fathers of the country, on Wednesday.

The airport’s current infrastructure fails to handle a large numbers of passengers at the same time.

From the very early morning, the security screening area, located on the airport’s first floor, was overcrowded with thousands of passengers queuing up for procedures including medical declaration, as a COVID-19 control protocol.

This situation has gone on for several days at the airport, with long queues of passengers inching forward in fatigue.

Such passenger congestion has happened not only in the screening area but also in some check-in counters of airlines, for many passengers had yet to complete their medical declaration.

Many passengers who were first-time flyers or who did not master how to make medical declaration nearly missed their flights.

Nguyen Khanh Hung, a 57-year-old passenger from Binh Duong Province, just outside Ho Chi Minh City, who checked in for a flight to Thanh Hoa Province in north-central Vietnam, said it took him a lot of time to fill out health declaration forms because of his old age and his ignorance of technological applications.

“Staff here have aided me enthusiastically,” Hung said.

“It took me two hours to complete all procedures from medical declaration to security screening, as there were so many passengers.”

By noon on Sunday, the security screening stalls were still crammed with waiting passengers.

An airport employee requires passengers to present their medical declaration forms before allowing them to access check-in counters at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, April 18, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Some passengers nearly miss their flights due to a long wait at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, April 18, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Passengers crowd the security screening area of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, April 18, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A tired little child stands among the waiting passengers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, April 18, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Passengers crowd the security screening area of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, April 18, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Passengers wait for airport staff to call their names at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, April 18, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Passengers crowd the entrance to the security screening area of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, April 18, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Some elderly people and children feel tired due to a long wait at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, April 18, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre