Van Don International Airport in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh is slated to receive its first flight on December 25, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

A file photo of Lien Khuong Airport in Lam Dong Province 

Construction work and pilot flights at the airport have been completed. The provincial authorities have teamed up with Sun Group, the airport investor, to file the essential documents and complete the appraisal and acceptance procedures.

The airport will undergo a quality inspection by the State Appraisal and Acceptance Council between October 15 and October 30, as scheduled.

The Van Don airport is located in Doan Ket Commune in Quang Ninh’s Van Don District, covering 325 hectares of land. It was constructed under the build-operate-transfer format and will take the investor 45 years to recoup the investment.

Sun Group has injected nearly VND7.7 trillion into the airport project. Of this, the construction costs accounted for some VND5.2 trillion.

It was designed in line with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) 4E standards and is a level-II military airport. In addition, this five-star airport can accommodate modern and large cargo flights on its 3.6-kilometer-long and 45-meter-wide runway.

Apart from this, it can serve 2.5 million passengers per year by 2020 and up to 1,250 passengers per hour during peak season. It is scheduled to operate nine air routes and has a daily capacity of some 7,000 passenger arrivals.

Van Don International Airport is expected to open up numerous trade and development opportunities, and thus will promote the potential tourism sector of Quang Ninh in the coming period.

In related news, local budget carrier Vietjet has written to CAAV, proposing upgrading Lien Khuong Airport in Lam Dong Province into an international airport to create more favorable conditions for receiving upcoming international flights.

To convert into an international airport, a domestic airport must be equipped with an adequate management system for customs and entry procedures to regulate international flights departing to and from foreign countries.

Lien Khuong Airport currently operates six domestic routes to and from Hanoi, HCMC, Danang, Vinh, Hue and Haiphong, as well as two regular international routes to Bangkok in Thailand and Wuhan in China, along with some chartered flights to and from Singapore and South Korea.

It was ranked fifth out of 22 local airports that operate efficiently in the country.

Earlier, the provincial government of Lam Dong proposed the Ministry of Transport consider approving a plan to upgrade Lien Khuong to an international airport by 2020, with a vision toward 2030, in line with ICAO 4E standards.

The current facilities of the Lien Khuong airport have yet to meet the strong demand for travel among local and international passengers, particularly in terms of working space allocation for customs officers and security staff who regularly serve international flights.

SGT