Vietnam all set for first private airport

By Hong Chau   December 4, 2018 | 07:26 pm PT
Vietnam all set for first private airport
Van Don International Airport, the first private airport of Vietnam, will serve the first flight on December 30, 2018. Photo by VnExpress/Doan Loan
The first private airport in Vietnam, near the world-renowned Ha Long Bay, will become operational on December 30.

A Vietnam Airlines Airbus A321 arriving from HCMC will have the honour of making the first touchdown at Van Don Airport.

The 325-hectare (803 acres) airport in northern Quang Ninh Province, owned by real estate giant Sun Group, costs VND7.7 trillion ($330 million) and can handle 2.5 million passengers a year.

It is expected to focus on services to Northeast Asian destinations like South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China and Southeast Asian ones like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Cambodia.

Domestically, flights will mostly be to and from the southern and central regions.

The airport now has four gates and the number will be increased to seven by 2030.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the airport will have to follow all regulations in terms of aviation safety and security like all other airports in the country.

As Van Don District is among the three special economic zones planned in the country, the airport is expected to boost the local economy, including tourism at Ha Long Bay.

The airport is roughly 44 kilometers northeast of the world heritage site in Quang Ninh Province.

Vietnam welcomed 14.1 million international tourists from January to November, up 21.3 percent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office. As many as 11.4 million of them came by plane, up 15.3 percent, it added.

Vietnamese carriers transported 45.1 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2018, up 11.9 percent year-on-year, and 369.2 million tons of goods, up 18.6 percent, said the office.

 
 
go to top