During major holidays such as April 30 - May 1, Lunar New Year or when important political events take place, air passengers are often notified to apply enhanced aviation security levels. However, not everyone understands in what cases these levels are applied and how different levels of control are.
According to Decree 215/2026/ND-CP detailing a number of articles of the Law on Civil Aviation of Vietnam, the enhanced aviation security control system includes three levels, from low to high, which are level 1, level 2 and level 3, applied corresponding to the level of security threat.
Accordingly, level 1 is applied when important political and social events of the country take place or when the political security and social order situation develops complicatedly. This is the lowest level among the three levels of enhanced security control.
A higher level is level 2, which is applied when functional agencies have intelligence information about illegal interference plots in civil aviation operations but have not clearly identified the location, target or specific time; or when serious political security and social order disturbances occur in the locality.
Level 3 is the highest level of control, applied when there is verified information about illegal interference plots with specific locations, targets and times or when the political security and social order situation is particularly serious.
When applying enhanced aviation security control, functional forces will strengthen duty, on-duty, supplement vehicles and technical equipment, promote patrols, random inspections, scanning, monitoring passengers, goods, vehicles and limit people and vehicles entering and leaving restricted areas at airports to prevent the risk of aviation security violations.
The Decree stipulates that the Director of the Immigration Department has the authority to decide on the application or cancellation of enhanced aviation security levels based on risk assessment. This decision is exchanged with the Vietnam Aviation Authority within 24 hours from the date of promulgation.
Understanding the meaning of aviation security levels helps passengers be more proactive when carrying out procedures, complying with inspection and scanning requirements, and coordinating with functional forces, contributing to ensuring safety for every flight.
