Hue airport to get upgrade along with capacity expansion

Thua Thien Hue Province in central Vietnam, home to the ancient town of Hue, has asked the Ministry of Transport to decide the investment strategy for the upgrade, which will see the runway and taxiway lengthened and another taxiway built.

Dinh Viet Thang, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV), said the ministry is still considering the investment strategy, and the amount would be determined once the feasibility study is approved.

The CAAV expects the work to cost more than VND1 trillion ($43 million), VND620 billion for the new taxiway and extending the existing one and the rest for the runway.

Nguyen Van Phuong, Deputy Chairman of Thua Thien Hue, said the province wants the upgrade since the airport has just one runway of 2.7 km long. It has one main taxiway and six branches, four of which are in a bad state of repair.

With its current infrastructure, Phu Bai could serve 1.5 million passengers a year, but is often overloaded with up to half a million passengers more.

A new passenger terminal is already under construction by the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) at a cost of VND2.25 trillion ($96.24 million).

To be completed in the fourth quarter of 2021, the work will also add roads, parking lots and other facilities.

The 22,380-square-meter second terminal will serve five million passengers a year by 2021 and nine million by 2030. When it opens, the current terminal will be used only for cargo.

The CAAV said once the new terminal is completed, the existing runway and taxiway would not be able to handle the additional demand.

Phu Bai airport was built by the French in 1940 to serve both military and civilian purposes.

In 2013, VND700 billion (30 million) was spent on repairing and upgrading it.