Central Vietnam's Vinh airport to be expanded

The central province authorities announced Saturday that it has approved for the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the operator of all commercial airports in the country, to be the investor in carrying out the project.

The ACV, which has 95% of its charter capital owned by the state, will use a military land plot previously managed by the Ministry of National Defense for the expansion.

The work will focus on renovating and expanding the aircraft parking area, building a terminal, and installing a secondary radar station and is expected to last within one year.

Hoang Phu Hien, director of the Nghe An Department of Transport, said that Vinh airport currently lacked parking space, forcing aircraft to circle in search of a spot during peak hours.

The upgrade will address the overload issue during peak times, reduce costs for airlines, and make travel more convenient for the public, avoiding the need for night flights, he said.

Opened in late 2003, Vinh airport in the namesake city has a single runway of 2,400 m long and 45 m wide, with a design capacity of 2.75 million passengers per year.

The airport currently handles 21-26 flights per day.

In July 2023, it was closed for nearly 16 hours due to a 40-sq.m section of the runway cracking in the asphalt concrete layer.

According to the national airport system planning for the period 2021-2030, Vinh International Airport is envisioned to be a 4E class airport (capable of receiving Airbus 350, Boeing 787, and equivalent) with a total area of over 557 hectares and a design capacity of 8 million passengers per year.

It served more than 1.3 million passengers in the first six months of 2023, an increase of 105% compared to the same period of 2022.