HÀ NỘI — Construction of the expanded Điện Biên airport project is scheduled to begin in December 2021 and finish in the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV).
The construction process will last 30 months, four months less than the initial plan.
The project to expand the Điện Biên Airport in the northwestern province of Điện Biên was approved on March 27 with the aim of increasing its capacity to 500,000 passengers per year.
The ACV is the investor of the project which is estimated to cost VNĐ1.55 trillion (US$67 billion).
The airport will be upgraded to receive large aircraft such as Airbus A320s and A321s and those of equivalent size.
The Điện Biên Airport, 500 kilometres to the west of Hà Nội, is the largest and only commercial airport in the northwestern region of Việt Nam.
It was originally a military airport built in 1954. It began commercial operations in 1994. It has one 1,830-metre runway that can handle short-haul ATR72 and smaller aircraft. Its current capacity is 300,000 passengers per year. — VNS
