The Van Don International Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh, the first airport invested by a private business in Vietnam, is scheduled to be operational in late June 2018, instead of in late March as previously announced.
The airport, on Van Don Island, was invested with nearly VND7.5 trillion (US$330 million) by property developer Sun Group, according to a report by state-run VNA.
In April, Sun Group established the Van Don Investment and Development JSC, which will operate the facility when it becomes operational. The other 21 airports in Vietnam are operated by state-run Airports Corporation of Vietnam.
Construction on the airport started in 2015. It is the first airport project in Vietnam developed under a 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 an international airport.
The airport’s 3.6-kilometer runway is nearly complete and the developer is hastening construction of other works to put the airport into operation.
Moreover, two additional parking lots will be built and the lighting system will be upgraded so the airport can receive large aircraft like the A350s and B787s.
The airport has a designed capacity of 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 the 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.
Photo: Gratisography/ Ryan McGuire
