Hanoi’s US$3.5 billion expansion of Noi Bai International Airport is being reviewed, with the aim of bringing in 80-100 million passengers a year by 2050.
According to VnExpress, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has instructed the Ministry of Transport to review the airport expansion plan, which was originally proposed in 2016.
The airport currently has a capacity of only 25 million passengers and serviced 23 million last year. Demand for air travel is rising rapidly and the airport is predicted to see 35 million travelers by 2030. At a conference last fall, Minister of Transport Truong Quang Nghia cautioned that unless authorities act quickly on the plans, the airport will face the same challenges as Saigon’s Tan Son Nhat Airport, which is currently operating beyond capacity.
Dung urged the ministry to finalize plans for the airport expansion to increase capacity to 50 million by 2030 and up to 100 million by 2050.
He added that city authorities would also be required to create a plan for land acquisition in the area. While the expansion of the airport is estimated at US$3.5 billion, that figure is likely to rise to US$5.5 billion when including the cost of resettling people who live in the area.
Noi Bai has already come a long way from being named one of the worst airports in Asia to being amongst the top 100 in the world in 2016. Its expansion would coincide with enlargements to Tan Son Nhat as well as the construction of Long Thanh Airport in Dong Nai: all signs of Vietnam expanding aviation needs and capabilities.
[Photo via Vietnam Airport]
