VietNamNet Bridge – Many flights were delayed, cancelled or diverted on Friday evening as heavy rains seriously flooded HCM City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Many flights were delayed or cancelled as torrential rains flooded large areas of the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City last Friday.— Photo: VNS

The 159mm downpour submerged the airport’s aprons and flooded the runways.

Nearly 70 flights arriving at Tan Son Nhat Airport were affected. Fourteen were diverted to other nearby airports, including Lien Khuong Airport in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong and Cam Ranh Airport in the central province of Khanh Hoa.

Four international flights were rerouted to Phnom Penh and Bangkok in Cambodia and Thailand, respectively.

Aircraft began leaving the airport only at 10pm, after the downpour had stopped and the weather cleared.

Airport deputy director Pham Vu Cuong said Friday’s torrential rains had inundated one of the taxiways by as much as 30cm of water, forcing it to close for one hour. The airport resumed operation at 8pm after the waters had receded.

Last year, the airport was almost shut down after flooding threatened a power station supplying electricity to air traffic control facilities.

On October 9, 2015, some areas of the Tan Son Nhat Airport were under 20cm of water following heavy rains, inundating the power station. Sandbags were used to keep the water out of some facilities.

The inundation was caused by drainage problems in nearby canals, with nearly half of them used to dump trash, Cuong said.

The airport management has urged city authorities to act quickly in dealing with flooding situations that could force a temporary closure of the airport.

In June this year, the HCM City administration directed relevant agencies to dredge canals and draw up plans to further improve the drainage system.

Source: VNS