Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has assigned the Ministry of Transport to work out a plan to expand and adjust the planning scheme of Noi Bai International Airport which is facing serious overloading.

The Transport Ministry asked to study Noi Bai Airport expansion plan. 

Dung requested the ministry to coordinate with experts and consultancy firms to review the development planning scheme of the Hanoi-based international airport by 2030 with a vision towards 2050. 

The ministry was asked to consider the possibility to expand the airport to the north in an attempt to raise its capacity to 50 million passengers per year in the first phase. In the second phase, the Noi Bai airport will probably be enlarged towards the south, enabling it to accommodate 80-100 million passengers annually.

The ministry will receive non-refundable official development assistance (ODA) from the Government of France to conduct the study and amend the planning scheme.

The Deputy PM also assigned the People’s Committee of Hanoi to work with the Ministry of Transport in managing the land area needed for the expansion project. The city will have to, together with the ministry, work out a plan for site clearance and allocate land for residential resettlement.

They must cooperate with each other to draw up a urban planning scheme for areas around the airport towards sustainable development.

In addition, the Ministry of Transport will have to fix damages in the airport’s runways and carry out the second phase of the construction of the international terminal T2.

The Noi Bai International Airport now has a capacity of serving 25 million passengers per year, with two terminals and two runways.

The figure is projected to grow to 34.5 million passengers in 2020, 54 million in 2025, and 65 million in 2030, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

In April, the CAAV estimated it will need close to 3.5 billion USD for the enlargement of the airport.-VNA