The airport, which is located in the northern province of Quang Ninh’s Van Don Island, was invested with nearly VND7.5 trillion (US$330 million) by property developer Sun Group.Authorities have so far urged relevant agencies to complete remaining works to be able to put the airport into operation as scheduled.
Accordingly, the municipal Department of Transport has been asked to complete procedures on planning and investments at the airport while the Department of
Tourism must develop a market promotion plan for the airport and report it to the committee before the end of this month.
Van Don Airport is designed to serve two million passengers a year by 2020.
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In addition, the developer must actively cooperate with carriers such as Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet for support and consultancy on the first flights. It will also have to study and raise policies to encourage carriers to start flights to Van Don.
The airport started construction in 2015 and is the first airport project in Viet Nam developed under build-operate-transfer (BOT) format, with a payback period of 45 years.
In February, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved the policy to upscale the airport from a domestic to international airport.
The airport’s 3.6km runway is nearly complete and the developer is hastening construction of other works to put the airport into operation. Besides, two additional parking lots will be built and the lighting system will be upgraded to receive large aircraft like A350s and B787s.
It is designed to serve two million passengers a year by 2020 and will be expanded to serve five million passengers annually by 2030 if demand for travel through the airport increases.
The airport, a key project in Van Don Economic Zone, will also be able to accommodate military aircraft.
It is expected to help attract investment and tourists to Van Don Island and Ha Long Bay.
The Government has so far also gave nod to develop Van Don into a special administrative-economic unit of the northern region.
