Hanoi pushes for expansion of int’l airport

Leaders in Hanoi are urging transport authorities to complete an expansion plan for Noi Bai International Airport to meet rising demand.

Hanoi has asked the Ministry of Transport to complete planning for traffic infrastructure and the demarcation of an area to the south where the largest airport in northern Vietnam will be expanded.

The PM has approved a third terminal and runway at Noi Bai International Airport after 2020, according to Tran Duy Lam, director of planning and investment.

"In order to ensure we meet the country's development demands, the Aviation Department has recommended hiring foreign consultants to review the plans for Noi Bai International Airport. This will be the basis for us to present them to the Ministry of Transport for clearance and investment approval,” said Lam.

The proposal has been approved by the minister of transport who highlighted the importance of Noi Bai Airport as a door to the world. Noi Bai, Vietnam’s second busiest airport after Tan Son Nhat, has a capacity of 25 million passengers per year with two terminals and two runways. 23 million passengers used the airport in 2017.

Noi Bai was named the 82nd best airport in the world in 2017 on an annual ranking compiled by U.K.-based Skytrax consultancy.

The airport has improved tremendously in recent years after being considered one of the worst in Asia in 2014 by the survey site “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports.”

A plan to expand Tan Son Nhat International Airport was also approved by the PM at the end of March.

A French consultancy's plan to build a new terminal at the overloaded airport in Ho Chi Minh City has been selected from a shortlist, and will allow the airport to handle 50 million passengers per year by 2025 without the need for a new runway.