Vietnam Tan Son Nhat Airport Seeks Solutions to Deal with Flooding

Vietnamese Tan Son Nhat International Airport’s authorities are seeking solutions to deal with flooding as its operation has been affected badly due to heavy rains, state media reported. The rain on September 11 quickly flooded the airport, leaving seven to eight planes unable to land. Four VietJetAir were rerouted and 22 other flights were delayed. Several roads leading to the airport including Truong Son, Hau Giang and Tien Giang were flooded. On August 26, heavy rain also flooded the airport's parking lot, affecting 70 flights, leading to two flights being cancelled and 14 redirected to nearby airports. The problem can totally happen again, as the airport is sharing the strained drainage system with the entire city, said Lai Xuan Thanh, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City’s government last July said that it is working on a project to upgrade the 745-meter Nhat Ban canal, one of the main ones around the airport, to help prevent future flooding. Other more sustainable solutions are building reservoirs and dredging waterways around the airport. Tan Son Nhat airport received over 22 million passengers in 2014 and the 2015 figure surged 18% to 26 million, including 10 million foreign travelers. (vov.vn Sep 13, nld.com.vn Sep 12)