Vietnam’s busiest airport has one great feature others should adopt

The airport: Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN), Ho Chin Minh City

The flight

VietJet VJ081 from Ho Chi Minh to Melbourne.

The arrival

On the way out … Departure Area, Tan Son Nhat International Airport.Credit: Getty Images

Nothing says Saigon like a couple of hundred mopeds revving their engines at the lights. Coming from the Mekong Delta in the south of the country, we have to cross the entire city to reach the airport in the north, including crossing eight lanes of raging mopeds, held back only by a red light bulb. On a long weekend for the country’s national day, it takes 52 minutes to travel 17 kilometres across the city.

The look

Grey with plastic plants – the only design statement being made here is “workaday”. The airport comprises two terminals – T1 for domestic and T2, the international terminal. A third terminal is due to start operating by April 2025, and an entirely new international airport, Long Thanh, is set to open in 2026. Modelled on the shape of the lotus flower, its plans indicate it will possess all the glamour the current airport is missing and, with a capacity of 100 million, it will be one of the world’s largest airports. Until then, dowdy Tan Son Nhat, first built in 1930, does the heavy lifting for the nation’s biggest city.

Checking in

Queues are slow-moving at this airport which will have a spanking new, lotus-shaped terminal in April.Credit: Getty Images

I’m flying business class, and thank goodness there’s nobody else at the check-in desk. So dishevelled am I from the nail-biting drive across the city, that the immaculate crew, in their red-and-tweed attire, take a moment to double-check I could be up the pointy end of the plane. Once certified, check-in is fast and without drama.

Security

The queue to clear customs is numbered in the hundreds and moving at the state of a dead snail; but everyone is just so jovial, laughing, chatting and waving to family in the public well-wishers gallery on the mezzanine above. After being barked at by customs officials to go to the back of the queue, I bite the bullet and ask my fellow passengers if I can queue-jump, explaining my flight is about to board. The queue is gracious and accommodates my request without question. My business-class ticket offers a priority queue at security checkpoints, not currently available in HCMC airport.

Food + drink

For a last-minute hit of banh mi or pho, the airport obliges, with a busy outpost of restaurant chain Pho 24 even before you enter the terminal, and another franchise, Big Bowl, inside. Don’t count on it being the best you’ve ever eaten but, to my mind, even bad Vietnamese food is a better bet than food from the ubiquitous American pizza, fried chicken and burger outlets. Vietnam’s omnipresent Highlands Coffee also makes several appearances.

Retail therapy

Need an ao dai (dress) or non laa (conical bamboo hat)? The souvenir shops in most Vietnamese airports oblige, though of course at prices above those on the street. Expect the usual run of duty-free perfumes and alcohol.

Passing time

For a country with such a huge diaspora, it’s only natural Saigon has a well-wishers’ gallery open to the public – and I wish more airports would, instead of our brutal drop-and-run set-ups. Dozens of families are gathered on the mezzanine level looking over the departures gates, waving off loved ones. There’s also a kids’ zone and sleep zone with a handful of loungers – bring your own eye mask – massage chairs, free Wi-Fi, luggage storage and adverts for a printer service. The Rose business lounge is open to VietJet business-class passengers as well as a host of other airlines and Plaza Premium members.

The verdict

The airport is designed to accommodate up to 17 million passengers each year. A little speed on customs wouldn’t go astray.

Our rating out of five

★★★

The writer travelled as a guest of VietJet ( vietjetair.com) and Azerai Hotels (azerai.com).