Cat Bi International Airport ( vi, Cảng hàng không quốc tế Cát Bi a.k.a. vi, Sân bay Quốc tế Cát Bi) is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

located in

Hai Phong Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta. Haiphong wa ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

History

First Indochina War

During the war Cat Bi Air Base was used by

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

('), units based there included: *Group de Chasse 2/22 ''Languedoc'' equipped with the

F8F Bearcat The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engine carrier-based fighter aircraft introduced in late World War II. It served during the mid-20th century in the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the air forces of other na ...

* Bomber Squadron 1/19 ''Gascogne'' equipped with the

B-26 Invader The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948 and 1965) is an American twin-engined light bomber and ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during several major Col ...

*Bomber Squadron 1/25 ''Tunisie'' equipped with the B-26 The base was also used by

French Naval Aviation French Naval Aviation (often abbreviated in French to: ''Aéronavale'' (contraction of Aéronautique navale), or ''Aviation navale'', or more simply ''l'Aéro'') is the naval air arm of the French Navy. The long-form official designation is ' ...

('), units based there included: * Flotille 28F equipped with the

PB4Y-2 Privateer The Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer is an American World War II and Korean War era patrol bomber of the United States Navy derived from the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The Navy had been using B-24s with only minor modifications as the PB4Y-1 Lib ...

*the air groups of the ''Arromanches'' and ''Bois Belleau'' On 14 November 1953 the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

483d Troop Carrier Wing flew five C–119s from

Clark Air Base Clark Air Base is a Philippine Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located west of Angeles City, about northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was previously a United States military facility, operated by the U.S. Air Forc ...

to Cat Bi to qualify French Air Force crews on them. In December 1953 in order to support C–119s, the USAF deployed to Cat Bi detachments of the 483d Troop Carrier Wing, the 8081st Aerial Resupply Unit and a provisional maintenance squadron of the Far East Air Logistics Force in what was known as Operation ''Cat Paw'' which had a peak strength in April 1954 of 121 men. On the night of 6/7 March 1954 the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

attacked the base destroying 1 B-26 and 6 Morane-Saulnier MS.500 Criquets. On 9 March 1954 civilian pilots from the CIA-backed

Civil Air Transport Civil Air Transport (CAT) was a Nationalist Chinese airline, later owned by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), that supported United States covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia. During the Cold War, missions consisted in ...

(CAT) arrived at Cat Bi to begin flying C-119s, they began flying cargo missions on 12 March. Cat Bi-based CAT aircraft flew a total of 682 missions in support of the

Battle of Dien Bien Phu The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (french: Bataille de Diên Biên Phu ; vi, Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ, ) was a climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War that took place between 13 March and 7 May 1954. It was fought between the Fr ...

between 13 March and 6 May 1954. On 22 May 1954 the 483d Troop Carrier Wing maintenance detachment at Cat Bi relocated to Tourane Air Base.

Vietnam War

During the war the base was used by the

Vietnam People's Air Force The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF, ), formally refers itself as the Air Defence - Air Force (ADAF, ) or the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF, ), is the Air force, aerial warfare service branch of Vietnam. It is the successor of the former North V ...

. On 9 January and 10 February 1968 United States jets attacked the base. On 26 August 1972 during

Operation Linebacker Operation Linebacker was the codename of a U.S. Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 air interdiction campaign conducted against North Vietnam from 9 May to 23 October 1972, during the Vietnam War. Its purpose was to halt or slow the ...

U.S. Navy jets bombed the base. In early 1973 U.S.

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desig ...

aircraft flew into Cat Bi to deliver minesweeping equipment as part of

Operation End Sweep Operation End Sweep was a United States Navy and United States Marine Corps operation to remove naval mines from Haiphong harbor and other coastal and inland waterways in North Vietnam between February and July 1973. The operation fulfilled an Am ...

Expansion

Vietnam has announced a new master plan to upgrade the airport with a 3,050-meter second runway, a new terminal, and a new apron by 2015. The existing runway will also be upgraded. After the expansion, the airport will be capable of serving up to 4–5 million passengers a year. The first phase of the project was completed in May 2016, enabling this airport a capacity of 2 million passengers per year. The new terminal and new runway were opened on 12 May 2016. The airport can serve the

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on ...

Airbus A350 XWB The Airbus A350 is a flight length, long-range, wide-body aircraft, wide-body twinjet, twin-engine jet airliner developed and produced by Airbus Commercial Aircraft, Airbus. The first A350 design proposed by Airbus in 2004, in response to ...

and similar aircraft.

Airlines and destinations

Notes

* Cat Bi International Airport became international airport from 00:01 of 11 May 2016. * Ready for new international flight to Guangzhou, China at the end of Apr

References

External links

French military images of Cat Bi supporting the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
{{authority control Airports in Vietnam Buildings and structures in Haiphong