Several Vietnamese officials have admitted operational weaknesses with Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi and HCM City's Tan Son Nhat after the two facilities were named on the worst in Asia 10 list by a website called Sleepinginairports.

Noi Bai International Airport

At a meeting with aviation agencies on September 27 in Hanoi, Minister of Transport Pham Quy Tieu said, "It is a must for us to acknowledge the bad services received by passengers at both Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports. We think this is due to a lase of infrastructure and bad attitudes of much of the staff working there."

Vu The Phiet, director of Noi Bai Airport agreed, adding that the airport was only designed to handle 9 million passengers per year, and the actual passenger load is forecast to reach 11.5 million by the end of this year. In addition, Terminal T1, opened in 2008, is experiencing serious overload. Even after signs of deterioration, the terminal has never undergone serious repairs.

According to Phiet, the sanitary services at Noi Bai have yet to be implemented well, and cooperative efforts to monitor the situation remain lax. In particular, he said, enforcement of rules on airport taxis has been lacking.

Dang Anh Tuan, an official from Vietnam Airlines, said that every year, Vietnam Airlines cooperates with Caitrax, organisation which assesses the quality of service at Vietnamese airports, including Noi Bai. Their assessment also showed services at the airport did not meet passengers' expectations.

“Many people talk about how the traffic at both Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports too much. Many of their complaints are about trolleys and air-conditioning," he said.

Ngo Hong Minh, deputy director of Noi Bai Operation Centre, said that he often receives complaints about the lack of seats, currency converting stalls and even lack of toilet paper.

Hoang Quang Thanh, director of Noi Bai Airport's Security Centre, mentioned problems in security management policy that have resulted in the trading of banned products and even the loss of passenger language.

According to Phiet, cameras have been installed in order to improve the quality of service in the airport.

Transport Minister Pham Quy Tieu has requested that the management boards of Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports take measures to better control sanitary and taxi services.