HANOI: Vietnamese citizens travelling through Noi Bai International Airport's new Terminal 2 can now use dedicated immigration lanes, a move that has significantly reduced waiting times and eased congestion at the international terminal.
The new system, introduced at the beginning of August, separates Vietnamese passport holders from other categories of travellers during immigration clearance, allowing border officers to process passengers more efficiently.
Previously, different groups of passengers with regular passports regardless of nationality queued together at immigration checkpoints, meaning a single traveller encountering documentation issues could delay everyone behind them.
According to airport authorities, the average immigration processing time for Vietnamese citizens has fallen from around 26–27 minutes to approximately 16 minutes since the pilot scheme began.
Some passengers have reportedly completed arrival formalities in as little as four to five minutes, compared with waits of between 30 minutes and more than an hour during peak periods.
The arrival hall is now divided into dedicated lanes for VIP passengers, foreign nationals, flight crews, Vietnamese citizens, transit passengers, and other traveller categories.
Vietnamese citizens holding biometric (chip-enabled) passports can also use automated e-gates, with staff available to provide assistance where necessary.
The changes come as passenger traffic continues to rebound strongly.
During the first six months of 2026, Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi handled more than 111,300 flights, up 11 per cent year-on-year, while passenger throughput reached approximately 18.2 million, a 10 per cent increase from the same period last year.
Cargo and mail volumes also rose sharply, with the airport processing more than 548,000 tonnes, up 21 per cent.
The growth reflects the continued recovery of Vietnam's aviation sector.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, international passenger numbers reached 26.2 million in the first half of 2026, up 15 per cent from a year earlier, while domestic traffic totalled 18.7 million, a modest increase of 0.3 per cent.
Vietnamese airlines currently operate 54 domestic routes and 109 international routes serving 22 countries and territories.
Foreign carriers from 41 countries and territories operate 235 scheduled routes to destinations across Vietnam.
To accommodate growing demand, Noi Bai said it will continue addressing operational bottlenecks while accelerating digital transformation and green initiatives to improve airport capacity and passenger services.
The airport also aims to exceed its 2026 operational targets by more than 10 per cent and further enhance service quality in line with Skytrax evaluation criteria as it works towards achieving a four-star airport standard. - Vietnam News/ANN
