The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has announced that the pilot use of chip-based ID cards to quicken check-in procedures for some domestic flights will begin next April. The scheme will be carried out at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport and will be applied to several domestic flights for six months before a final decision is made, the CAAV said.
Under the project, there will be an exclusive lane in the check-in and security control areas for passengers using chip-based ID cards, where devices using facial recognition screening technology will verify the identity of passengers instead of airport staff.
According to CAAV, the technology will prove an essential part of the mission to reduce the use of forged papers and overloading at check-in counters at airports. Additionally, the speed and efficiency will make travel convenient for passengers overall.
In the first ten months of 2022, the total number of passengers traveling through Vietnam airports topped 81 million. It is expected that the total number of passengers traveling through Vietnam airports would be around 100 million this year, equaling around 83% of the pre-COVID-19 figure with 120 million passengers in 2019.
According to the CAAV Director, Dinh Viet Thang, the domestic aviation market witnessed steady growth while in international markets, recovery reached about 50%, owing to obstacles brought on by the pandemic. Other markets including the Republic of Korea and Japan have reopened their flight, but the travel demand remains low.
In August, the country’s national carrier, Vietnam Airlines, announced the launch of an online check-in service for passengers departing from Phu Bai airport in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue. The move aimed to increase efficiency and improve customer experience and convenience, and brought the total number of domestic and international airports with this service to 17 and 30, respectively.
Passengers are able to check in through the official terminal gate or Vietnam Airlines app within 24 hours to one hour before departure. After the check-in process, they will receive an online boarding pass via email. If they do not have checked baggage, they can go directly to the security counter with their online or printed boarding passes.
Furthermore, in a bid to be a digitalised airline, Vietnam Airline launched two e-commerce platforms VNAMAZING, VNAMALL as well as its Vietnam Airlines Gift Card. The services were the first of their kind in the domestic aviation sector. VNAMAZING offers online tourism services including tour and accommodation bookings. VNAMALL provides a wide range of aviation and non-aviation goods and services. As these are the first e-commerce platforms run by an airline in Vietnam, they have significant advantages for the carrier’s air logistics and partner networks worldwide.
As OpenGov Asia reported, the Vietnam Airlines Gift Card is a product available on VNAMALL, which can be used to exchange airline tickets or avail of business class upgrade benefits on flights operated by Vietnam Airlines, Pacific Airlines, and VASCO.
