Entry in 30 seconds
In the early morning of August 1st at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, the international arrival area was incredibly crowded due to a surge in international and domestic travelers heading abroad for the summer. Passengers endured long lines that stretched from the immigration counters to the end of the terminal wall, with almost 20 security checkpoints operating at full capacity. However, the highlight was the introduction of 5 automated passport scanning machines, providing a novel and convenient experience for travelers.
At Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Vietnam, a technology for scanning passports that was brought from Europe has been put in place as part of a project that was started in late 2022. Passengers using the system can swiftly and easily take a photo of themselves, pass through automated immigration gates, and scan their chip-embedded passport data. This streamlines the procedure by doing away with the requirement for actual passport stamps and reduces interactions with airport staff.
Ten passport scanning devices have been placed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, five of which are for departing travelers and five of which are for entering travelers. Immigration officers and technical experts were available to help travelers use the system on the first day of operation. Vietnamese nationals having electronic passports with chips are the only ones who can use this passport scanning procedure at the moment. Passengers without such passports can submit their fingerprints and other personal information at one of two manual registration desks. The national population database is then updated with this data. It takes between two and four minutes to manually register. Passengers can update their passport information, fingerprints, and facial biometric data at automated machines ahead of time to save time at the manual registration counter. Passengers can move through automated immigration counters after registering, with the passport check taking between 20 and 35 seconds.
Reduce congestion by up to 50%
The passport scanning system at Tan Son Nhat International Airport faced technical issues due to older or damaged passports and cosmetic surgery passengers not updating their information. The Immigration Department responded by stationing staff and deploying engineers to resolve the issues. As the system stabilizes, these problems are expected to be resolved without causing delays for passengers.
Tan Son Nhat International Airport’s implementation of the autogate system is expected to drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to process passengers, cutting that time in half to roughly 35–40 seconds. This solution guarantees accurate data entry while streamlining administrative procedures and reducing personnel costs.
The autogate technology expands the workforce to effectively handle peak arrival times, giving passengers more alternatives and controlling gate systems, reducing congestion. Both international travelers and Vietnamese citizens will profit from the implementation, which is anticipated to improve the airport’s image for comfort, modernism, and efficiency. According to estimates, Tan Son Nhat’s immigration check area can experience a 50% reduction in traffic and lines thanks to automated technology.
Will expand the audience after 2 years
According to the Ministry of Public Security’s plan, the autogate system will go into effect at the airports of Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat on August 1 and those of Da Nang, Cam Ranh, and Phu Quoc on August 15. After registering just once, travelers can use the computerized immigration gates at any of the five airports without having to do so again.
Results are accessible between 12 and 24 hours after online registration, which is also an option. The Ministry of Public Security intends to increase the usage of automated control gates for both arrivals and departures after the initial two-year phase.
From an aviation standpoint, this automation is anticipated to save passengers time, decrease waiting and congestion, and improve the entire experience as machine-driven processes replace manual document inspections.
Source: Thanhnien
