Vietnamese international airport to close down for 6 months for $39M upgrade

By Doan Loan February 28, 2025 | 05:00 pm PT

A view of Vinh Airport in Nghe An Province in central Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Duy

The Vinh International Airport in central Nghe An Province would be closed down from June until the end of this year for maintenance and upgrade, according to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV).

The ACV on Thursday said it would renovate terminals and expand the runways and parking space at the airport with VND1 trillion ($39.1 million).

The parking space expansion would ensure that there are nine spaces available to park code C aircraft, those with wingspans at 24-36 m like Boeing 737-700, Airbus A-320, and Embraer ERJ 190-100.

The existing terminal, serving both domestic and international flights, would be expanded to accommodate up to 3.5 million visitors per year by 2030.

The project is expected to begin before April 30 and be completed within December.

During the airport's closure, people wanting to travel in the north-central region through aviation routes may do so through the Tho Xuan Airport in Thanh Hoa, 145 km away from Vinh, or the Dong Hoi Airport in Quang Binh, 207 km away.

At a Thursday discussion between the ACV and the Nghe An People’s Committee, both sides agreed to allocate a space spanning 3.3 ha on the existing parking space for expansion and construction of the Vinh Airport, including the construction of a second terminal, totaling to two terminals for the airport.

The Vinh Airport, which began operating in 2003, has only one runway spanning 2,400 m in length and 45 m in width, with a capacity of 2.75 million visitors a year. Up to 26 flights are handled by the airport every day.

Back in July 2023, the airport had to be closed down for around 16 hours due to a damaged runway.