Worst airports - HCMC Vietnam makes the list.

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Worst airports - HCMC Vietnam makes the list.

Post by Anchor Moy »

Than Son Nhat International Airport at HCMC, Vietnam has made a splash on the Worst Airports rating for 2015. 8th worst in the world and 4th worst in Asia.
Image
This is world ranking according to internet users of the Sleepinginairports site.
http://www.sleepinginairports.net/2015/ ... s-asia.htm

This has hit a nerve with Vietnamese authorities who are trying to promote a flagging tourism sector, so really don't need these awards.
Vietnamese aviation authorities will review the problems facing Tan Son Nhat International Airport and find solutions to improve the quality of services here, an official said Monday.
Lai Xuan Thanh, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, told Thanh Nien the Ministry of Transport had ordered the Southern Airports Authority to convene an urgent meeting with service providers at Tan Son Nhat to fix the problems at the airport.
The move was made after Tan Son Nhat was ranked 8th in the annual list of the worst airports in the world compiled by travel website Sleeping in Airports...
http://www.thanhniennews.com/travel/vie ... 52643.html

I didn't vote in this survey, and there are not many airports that I actually detest, but I do hate this airport. Much prefer the airport at Hanoi, which is small and cheerful - and also has cheap beer. :)
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Re: Worst airports - HCMC Vietnam makes the list.

Post by hanno »

I fly through HCMC every other week and do not find it all that bad. A/C works, immigration is reasonably fast, and 3 Dollars for a beer is OK by airport standards.
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Re: Worst airports - HCMC Vietnam makes the list.

Post by wackyjacky »

Unless they've fixed it up recently, I think MNL is worse. With all the crazed Chinese using DMK these days, it's a pain in the ass too. Any airport in China is a nightmare for an International connection. PVG especially sucks. It's hard to make a connecting flight in <2 hours.
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Re: Worst airports - HCMC Vietnam makes the list.

Post by Anchor Moy »

When a couple of longhaul flights arrive in HCMC at the same time it's like being in a rugby scum.AFAIK all transit flights through HCMC require that you check in AGAIN between flights and that is probably the reason for the scrum. For some reason, you cannot transit "normally". Luggage will go through but passengers have to line up and check in again for their onward flight out of HCMC.

Also IME there has sometimes been just two (very slow) desks open to process about 400 passengers, with some people rushing for a connecting flight, so panic etc. Not every time, but sometimes v. bad indeed.

BUT, not the worst airport by all means.
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Re: Worst airports - HCMC Vietnam makes the list.

Post by vladimir »

Qatar. Puke. It has apparently been fixed now, but still puke.

Phnom Penh one of the best, imho, but when traffic increases that may change

Johannesburg is fantastic if you are leaving, but when one is getting out of a shithole, the exit always looks good
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Re: Worst airports - HCMC Vietnam makes the list.

Post by PSD-Kiwi »

^ The new Qatar airport (DOH) is pretty sweet now and you can even sit down and have an alcoholic beverage in a couple of the restaurants and the lounges. Absolutely nothing like it was before, definitely not puke thankfully since I regularly transit through there.
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Re: Worst airports - HCMC Vietnam makes the list.

Post by vladimir »

Good to know, when my flight landed we joined a queue with around 800 people in it.

When the connecting flight left, they sent us downstairs to a waiting room that could hold maybe 50 people, the bus hadn't arrived, but close to 200 ended up there, eventually they turned the escalator off. Idiots.

Then one bus arrived, chaos as no control, and just to make it perfect the bus stalled and they couldn't start it again. Temp around 45C, lovely.
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Re: Worst airports - HCMC Vietnam makes the list.

Post by hanno »

Flew through Qatar earlier this year and it is a beautiful airport.

Cape Town sucked on the other hand: 4 long-hauls at the same time and about 2 very sleepy immigration officials.

You can transit HCMC on international flights; done it many times.
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Re: Worst airports - HCMC Vietnam makes the list.

Post by PSD-Kiwi »

Just managed to open the link and noticed Kabul at no.3, the airport itself isn't that bad, article says there are no facilities but there is a coffee shop and a duty-free shop. The worst part is when you're stuck in traffic at the round-about waiting to go through the 1st checkpoint into the airport, a notorious choke-point for suicide bombers to cause maximum damage.
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Re: Worst airports - HCMC Vietnam makes the list.

Post by Bitte_Kein_Lexus »

Qatar has been good for 3 years now. I'd say whatever airport Southern China flies to (Guangzhou) is the worst ever. DMK is terrible in how they handle taxis. Huuuuge line. They basically designed it in a terrible way on purpose so that people take the non-metered taxis.
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