Ho Chi Minh City Airport

Changing planes at Saigon on transit from Melbourne to Hanoi was a nightmare. The airport was hot and humid with pedestal fans failing in their attempt to keep the heat at bay. The immigration officials did not speak and separated a mother and her 12 year old daughter and made them go through individually. The girl was terrified. There were no instructions as to how to get to our connecting flight. We had to collect our luggage which had been left in a pile in the middle of the entry way re-check it and then find our way through security and customs again to get to our domestic flight. Fly to Hanoi instead.

Saigon Airport is an outdated and undersized facility. The Immigration Hall is so small that it can barely handle one planeload of about 250 passengers. Officers in their smart Vietnamese Army uniforms are cold and indifferent. The airport only has about three jetways and there are few seats available. There is only one large cafe selling overpriced food. The Check-In area is OK at least compared to the horrendous Immigration hall.