Can Tho International Airport — formerly Trà Nóc Airport — is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

located in

Can Tho Can may refer to: Language * A verb for ability * A verb for probability Containers * A container used for food preservation in canning ** Aluminum can ** Drink can ** Steel and tin cans * Trash can * Oil can * Petrol can Music * Can (band ...

Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( or simply ), also known as the Western Region () or South-western region (), is the list of regions of Vietnam, region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong, Mekong River River delta, approaches and empties into the sea th ...

region of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. The airport was inaugurated on January 1, 2011 and received

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

150 million to build on of land. It aimed to be able to process up to 5 million passengers a year. It serves air travel in the region, boosting Mekong Delta's economy, improving defence, security and international integration.

History

Trà Nóc Airport was originally constructed during the Vietnam War in 1965 by

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

(USAF) civil engineering units as a military airfield, which became Binh Thuy Air Base. It was used by the USAF as well as being the Headquarters of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) 4th Air Division until 1975. On 19 April 1969 the VAL-4 Light Attack Squadron began combat operations, flying air support for the Mobile Riverine Force in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam. The missions included normal patrol, overhead air cover, scramble alert and gunfire/artillery spotting. On 31 March 1972 the squadron conducted its last combat mission prior to its disestablishment on 10 April 1972. After 1975, the facility was initially unused, then later operated as a small regional airport for

. It was expanded and upgraded to international status, with completion due in 2008.

Upgrading of Trà Nóc airport

The expansion work of Trà Nóc airport started on 4 January 2006. The project was implemented in two phases, covering an area of 85.04 ha. *Phase 1: due to be completed in 2008, work including: improvement of the paved runway (2,400 m x 45 m), apron (27,491 m2), cost estimate: 370 billion VND ($23 million). This made the airport capable to handle medium range aircraft such as the Airbus A320, A321, and the Boeing 767. *Phase 2: construction of a new terminal (19,000 m2), cargo terminal and other facilities. Cost estimate: 400–500 billion VND ($25 to 31 million). The capacity of this terminal is 2 million passengers per year.

Current status

The airport is operating at loss, serving only 20% of its designed capacity. In 2017 the 917th Mixed Air Transport Regiment (a.k.a. Đồng Tháp Squadron) of 370th Air Force Division in the

Vietnam People's Air Force The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF; ), officially the Air Defence - Air Force Service (ADAF Service; ) or the Vietnam Air Force (), is the Aerial warfare, aerial, Anti-aircraft warfare, air and Space warfare, space defence service branch of ...

was moved to Cần Thơ from

Tan Son Nhut Air Base Tan Son Nhut Air Base () (1955–1975) was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) facility. It was located near the city of Saigon in southern Vietnam. The United States used it as a major base during the Vietnam War (1959–1975), stationing ...

Airlines and Destinations

References

External links