February 18, 2019 | 08:16 pm PT

Vietnam airport gets ready to receive US president

Vietnam airport gets ready to receive US president
U.S.'s Boeing C17 arrives at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi for President Donald Trump's state visit in November 2017. Photo by VnExpress/Ba Do

Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport is all set to receive U.S. President Donald Trump, who will visit next week for the second summit with Kim Jong-un.

Five landing spots will be earmarked, including two for the Air Force One planes on which U.S. president travels, as Trump arrives for his February 27-28 meeting with North Korean leader Kim.

This weekend the U.S. will fly several Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, a large military transport aircraft, to Noi Bai with equipment and vehicles Trump will use in Vietnam, including two cars and a helicopter.

The U.S. has sent personnel to check security inside and around the VIP guest house at the airport where the president will be received on landing.

Security inside the airport will be handled by U.S. personnel while the Hanoi police and airport security personnel will be in charge of security outside.

One landing strip will be earmarked exclusively for Trump’s aircraft.

At the time of the U.S. delegation’s arrival, the airport will have the highest level of aviation security with over 800 personnel deployed.

But Noi Bai will seek to ensure that commercial aviation activities are not affected and there are no flight delays or cancellations.

An airport spokesperson said: "Air Force One of the U.S. President will be landing at Noi Bai on February 27. We will do our best to guarantee security and safety and make sure everything goes smoothly so that the outside world will know Vietnam as a safe destination."

North Korean diplomatic authorities have surveyed some areas in the airport but have yet to discuss anything in detail with the Vietnamese side.

South Korean TV and radio network MBC has said Kim plans to reach Vietnam two days before the summit.

The summit will mark Trump’s second visit to Vietnam. He had taken part in the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit along with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in the central city of Da Nang in November 2017, before paying a state visit to Hanoi the same month.