Late-season rain floods Ho Chi Minh City, disrupts Tan Son Nhat flights

At around 7:00 pm, heavy rain accompanied by thunder and lightning struck the area around Saigon Bridge, making it difficult for commuters to travel home after work.

Traffic in the area remained relatively stable, with no major congestion reported.

The rain began to ease around 7:20 pm.

The Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Station attributed the downpour to disturbances in the upper-level easterly wind field affecting weather conditions across southern Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City.

Southern Vietnam is currently transitioning from the rainy season to the dry season.

During this period, atmospheric conditions can become unstable, with thunderstorms often accompanied by lightning and other extreme weather phenomena.

Rain is expected to remain relatively frequent during the first 10 days of November before gradually decreasing.

The rainy season is forecast to end across southern Vietnam by mid-November, according to the regional weather agency.

At around 7:30 pm, heavy rain and thunderstorms were still affecting Binh Hung Hoa Ward, where vehicles were moving slowly.

Flooding on Go Xoai Street left sections of the road submerged, making it difficult for motorcyclists to pass.

The downpour also affected flight operations at Vietnam's busiest airport.

Tan Son Nhat International Airport temporarily reduced its arrival capacity to only 16 flights per hour between 8:00 pm and 9:00 pm because of adverse weather conditions.

Airport capacity was scheduled to increase to 23 flights per hour between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm, with normal operations expected to resume after 10:00 pm if weather conditions improved.

The Air Traffic Flow Management Center under the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation implemented air traffic flow management measures to prevent excessive congestion in the airport's approach airspace.

Instead of allowing aircraft to depart on schedule and circle while waiting for landing clearance, air traffic controllers delayed departures at origin airports.

This approach reduced airborne holding patterns, lowered fuel consumption, and eased workload for air traffic controllers.

According to flight management data recorded at 7:28 pm, 31 flights were assigned revised departure times.

Among domestic services, flight HVN141 from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City was assigned a departure delay of 28 minutes. Flight HVN219 from Hanoi was delayed by 24 minutes, flight VJC223 from Vinh by 12 minutes, and flight SPQ873 from Hanoi by 28 minutes.

International services were also affected. Flight CSN367 from Guangzhou was assigned a delay of 17 minutes, while flight AIQ658 from Bangkok received a revised departure time 32 minutes later than originally planned.

Authorities emphasized that these were assigned flow-management delays rather than actual arrival delays, as operational conditions could continue to change depending on weather developments.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines warned passengers that flights arriving at or departing from Tan Son Nhat could experience schedule adjustments or airborne holding due to thunderstorms.