The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is planning a draft circular which would make it necessary for domestic airlines to compensate as much as USD150 per passenger for a delayed flight.

According to the CAA, a flight departing 15 minutes late would be considered delayed. The proposal was brought up after it was brought to public attention that the number of cancelled and delayed flights was increasing, mostly with the low-cost carriers. The Ministry of Transported listed compensation rates for passengers on delayed and canceled flights eight years ago, but many people have said that the rates were too low.

On domestic routes, each passenger with more than a four-hour delay, will now be compensated VND200,000 if the flight exceeds 500 km, and VND400,000 for one 1,000km or over. Meanwhile, passengers on international routes will be compensated USD25 for any flight less than 1,000km and USD150 for a flight of 5,000km or more. 

The CAA also emphasised that passengers will be able to file complaints with the airlines if they think the compensation is not sufficient. They can also sue the airlines over compensation within two years from the date their scheduled flights. The local airport authorities plan to work closely with airlines to create a monitoring system, making sure that passengers are fully compensated.

Previously, during an inspection at three major airports, in Hanoi, Danang and HCM City, the CAA found that many carriers had been avoiding payment to customers with delayed or cancelled flights. Vo Huy Cuong, deputy head of CAA, said that in many cases, airlines would make several delay announcements for one hour, even when they knew that the flights would be more than four hours late. 

When flights run by Vietjet Air and Jetstar Pacific were delayed on July 14, many passengers were outraged that the airlines did not give a reason or make any apology. 

In the coming time, airlines will have to make detailed reports to airport authorities about any delays, cancellations or compensations.