Vehicles passing through electronic toll collection (ETC) at Nội Bài International Airport in Hà Nội.  VNA/VNS Photo Việt Hùng

HÀ NỘI — Non-stop automatic toll collection will officially be put into use for vehicles entering and exiting major airports nationwide from the beginning of May.

According to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), electronic toll collection (ETC) will be put into operation at five airports including Nội Bài in Hà Nội, Cát Bi in Hải Phòng City, Phú Bài in Huế City, Đà Nẵng in Đà Nẵng City and Tân Sơn Nhất in HCM City on May 5.

In addition to the ongoing pilot implementation of ETC at the two largest airports in the country, Nội Bài and Tân Sơn Nhất, the unit responsible for providing and installing non-stop toll collection equipment has commenced work at three airports including Cát Bi, Phú Bài and Đà Nẵng in this month.

According to ACV, vehicle owners with ETC accounts for highways and expressways can pass through airport toll lanes without the need for additional cards or procedures, as these systems are integrated synchronously.

At on-going construction sites such as Terminal 3 at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport and Terminal 2 at Nội Bài International Airport, ACV will invest in non-stop toll booths to help alleviate traffic congestion.

Non-stop automatic toll collection has been applied in a trial at the two international airports of Nội Bài and Tân Sơn Nhất since February 6. Statistics from February 6 to March 19 showed that 203,606 vehicles had passed through the non-stop toll lanes at Nội Bài Airport and 132,926 vehicles had passed through the non-stop toll lanes at Tân Sơn Nhất Airport.

A representative from Nội Bài International Airport stated that the system operates stably, with a high rate of successful payment transactions at the ETC lanes, ensuring smooth traffic flow even during the Lunar New Year Festival.

“The success rate of payment by ETC card at the non-stop toll collection trial lanes reached about 90 per cent. The number of vehicles passing through the non-stop toll lanes is 1.8 times higher than those passing through the manual toll lanes,” he said.

Currently, Việt Nam has nearly five million automobiles with electronic toll tags installed and toll payment accounts, which equals 90 per cent of the total number of vehicles in the country.

After implementing automatic non-stop toll collection at airports, the Ministry of Transport plans to apply ETC toll collection for new services such as port fees, parking lots, insurance and vehicle registration.

Previously, the Ministry of Transport had requested ACV and relevant agencies and units to urgently deploy electronic toll collection services at airports to save time and minimise traffic congestion. — VNS