VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Transport said Runway 1A of Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi will be closed from August 21 to December this year for upgrade.

A Vietnam Airlines aircraft is seen in front of the second terminal of Noi Bai International Airport. According to the transport ministry, Runway 1A of this airport will be closed from August 21 to December this year for upgrade.

Dinh Viet Thang, deputy general director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), said August-December is an appropriate period for the maintenance of Runway 1A as this time is considered a low season at Noi Bai Airport.

Runway 1A was built in 1961 for both civil and military planes and upgraded in 1976 with a 22-centimeter concrete layer. However, cracks have appeared on the runway.

Runway 1A will be upgraded for bigger aircraft to land and take off at a cost of over VND603 billion (more than US$28.2 million). The ministry has told Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) to carry out the project within four months.

When Runway 1A is closed, Noi Bai International Airport will have only one runway of 3,800 meters. The second biggest international airport in Vietnam after Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC can handle a maximum of 25 flights an hour.

Aviation authorities have plans to reschedule flights in peak hours for Noi Bai to perform at maximum capacity when its runway is shut down for repair.

The ministry looks set to put the second terminal of Noi Bai International Airport into service late this year to help ease current overloads at the biggest airport in northern Vietnam.

SGT/VNN