The first plane landed at Van Don airport on the morning of July 11 (Photo: VNA)Quang Ninh (VNA) – The Van Don InternationalAirport in the northern province of Quang Ninh welcomed the first aircraft onthe morning of July 11, marking an important milestone in preparations forputting the airport into official operation later this year.
Construction on the airport, the first in Vietnam investedin by a private enterprise - the Sun Group – in the BOT formula, started inMarch 2016 in Doan Ket commune of Van Don district, with a total investment of7.7 trillion VND (334 million USD).
Under Decision No.497/QD-BGTVT on March 15, 2018 by theMinistry of Transport, Van Don will be an international airport, serving bothcivil and military flights with a 3.6km long runway.
The airport is expected to become operational this December,with nine air routes and capable of serving around 7,000 passengers per day.
The airport will have an annual capacity of 2-2.5 millionpassengers by 2020, which will increase to 5 million by 2030.
Set to cover more than 326ha by 2020, the airport iscomprised of support facilities, a two-module terminal, and other functionalareas. A cargo terminal is expected to be built by 2030 with a capacity of atleast 51,000 tonnes.
The establishment of Van Don airport is hoped to facilitatetravel to Quang Ninh, home to the World Heritage site of Ha Long Bay.
It is also expected to boost local development, as it willprovide thousands of jobs with stable income for local people.
In 2017, Quang Ninh counted a total of 9.87 million touristarrivals, including 4.28 million foreigners, up 18 percent and 23 percent year-on-year,respectively.
The locality, which is hosting the National Tourism Year2018, hopes to welcome 12 million visitors this year, including 5 millionforeigners, pulling an earning of 22 trillion VND (968 million USD). -VNA
VNA
