Hanoi upgrades new airport plans for international routes

Hanoi has proposed a new airport in the capital region will be used for international routes rather than just domestic flights.

Previously, under a plan for the period 2021-2030, with vision until 2050, submitted to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the Ministry of Transport had proposed such an airport would be used for domestic routes only.

The airport will be located southeast of Hanoi. The capital city expects it will help meet surging transport demand in future and foster balanced development in the Hanoi region.

Possible locations include Ly Nhan district in Ha Nam province; Ung Hoa district in the south of Hanoi; Thanh Mien and Binh Giang districts in Hai Duong province; or Tien Lang district in Hai Phong city.

The locations are all between 35 and 65 kilometers from Hanoi's center, apart from Hai Phong, which is 120 kilometers away and already has its own Cat Bi Airport.

Hanoi estimates that the airport will help increase the total capacity of the capital region to 130-150 million passengers a year.

Of which, Noi Bai International Airport, currently the only one in Hanoi, will be enlarged to 1,500 hectares to serve 60 million passengers annually by 2030, and 2,230 hectares to serve 100 million passengers by 2050. Municipal authorities project that Hanoi’s population will reach 21-23 million in 2050, equivalent to Ho Chi Minh City.

The HCMC region, Vietnam's southern economic hub, will also have two airports, namely Tan Son Nhat in the metropolis and the under-construction Long Thanh in nearby Dong Nai province, with a total capacity of 150 million passengers a year.

In April, the transport ministry submitted a draft national plan for airports for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050. The draft plan features 28 airports, including 14 international and 14 domestic ones.

In the first four months of this year, 22 airports in Vietnam served 37 million passengers, up 55% year-on-year, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV). The figure included 9.7 million international passengers, up 976% year-on-year, and 27.2 million domestic travelers, up 18%.

During the national holiday on Reunification Day (April 30) and Labor Day (May 1) on April 28 and May 3, the number of passengers surged 39% to 1.29 million, the CAAV added.

However, from January-April, cargo transport declined 24.3% year-on-year to 378,400 tons, including 272,000 tons on international routes, down 32.1%.