This country still requires shoes to be removed at security checkpoints at its airports — which caught me by surprise, as I was unaware that this was policy and procedure.
This Country Still Requires Shoes to Be Removed at Airport Security Checkpoints
The country is Vietnam. Regardless of whether the airport was Nội Bài International Airport in Hanoi, Đà Nẵng International Airport in Da Nang, or Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City — and regardless of whether the destination was domestic or international — I had to wait in a long queue at the security checkpoint of each airport. Every passenger was required to remove his or her shoes. I witnessed no exceptions to that rule.
Special lines were available to those passengers who were eligible for expedited security processing — such as passengers who were million milers — but I did not qualify for any of the eligibility requirements to use that line.
I know this to be a fact because I tried using the special line — but none of the criteria which I presented qualified for me using that line.
Final Boarding Call
Now that I think about it, I wonder if the partial removal of shoes would have been acceptable, as the soles were separating from my running shoes while I was traveling in Vietnam.
If you plan on traveling by airplane in Vietnam, give yourself plenty of time to be prepared for long lines at the security checkpoints of airports in that country — and be prepared to remove your shoes.
If Ladda Tammy Duckworth — who currently represents the state of Illinois as a senator of the United States — demands that the removal of shoes be a requirement at security checkpoints at airports for safety reasons, perhaps she should consider moving to Vietnam where she might feel safer…
…but I digress: do you know of any other countries whose airports still require that passengers remove their shoes at security checkpoints?
All photographs ©2026 by Brian Cohen.
