Dien Bien airport expansion project underway
Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh on January 22 pressed a button kick-starting a project on Dien Bien airport expansion in north-western region of Vietnam to receive larger aircraft in future.
The project has a total investment capital of VND1.467 trillion sourced from the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV). Land acquisition is projected to cost VND1.555 trillion from Dien Bien province’s budget.
The project aims to upgrade the airport’s infrastructure to accommodate Airbus A320s, A321s and other similar aircraft, instead of only small aircraft at present. At the same time, the existing passenger terminal will be upgraded to serve 500,000 passengers per year as opposed to 300,000 passengers/at present.
Dien Bien airport was restored from Muong Thanh airport built by the French in the 20th century. The airport which currently has a runway of 1,830m long and 30m wide has been put into use since 1994. It has a simple equipment system, three parking lots and a passenger terminal built in 2004 capable of serving 300,000 passengers /year.
It currently only operates small turboprop aircraft such as ATR 72 and small jet aircraft such as Embraer 190.
Under the upgrade project, the airport will have a 2,400m long and 45m wide runway and a new terminal capable of receiving 500,000 passengers a year.
The project is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2023.
