The Nà Sản Airport () is an airport in

Mai Sơn District Mai, or MAI, may refer to: Names * Mai (Chinese surname) * Mai (Vietnamese surname) * Mai (name) * Mai (singer), J-Pop singer * Iris Mai (born 1962), German chess master Places * Chiang Mai, largest city in northern Thailand * Ma-i, a pre-Hi ...

Sơn La Province ''Toxicodendron succedaneum'', the wax tree, Japanese Hazenoki tree (Sumac or wax tree), sơn in Vietnam or charão in Portuguese, is a flowering plant species in the genus ''Toxicodendron'' found in Asia, although it has been planted elsewhere, ...

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 ...

. Currently, there are no scheduled services to Nà Sản.

History

First Indochina War (1946 – 1954)

Nà Sản Airport was built in 1950 by the French as part of their army outpost in Nà Sản. Initially, the airport had a short clay airstrip but it was then extended and paved with

pierced steel planking Marston Mat, more properly called pierced (or perforated) steel planking (PSP), is standardized, perforated steel matting material developed by the United States at the Waterways Experiment Station shortly before World War II, primarily for the ...

to be able to handle larger planes like the

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

. In October 1952, the outpost was fortified to create a

hedgehog defense The hedgehog defence is a military tactic in which a defending army creates mutually supporting strongpoints in a defence in depth, designed to sap the strength and break the momentum of an attacking army. The strongpoints are designed to be exp ...

against 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 ...

forces in what was to become the

Battle of Nà Sản The Battle of Nà Sản was fought between French Union forces and the Nationalist forces of the Việt Minh at Nà Sản, Sơn La Province, during the First Indochina War for control of the T’ai region (Northwest territory). Background Mil ...

. After the battle ended in December 1952, the French retained control of the region. In August 1953, French forces withdrew from the outpost and Nà Sản Airport was abandoned afterward.

Post First Indochina War (1954 – present)

Under the

Democratic Republic of Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

authority, the airport resumed operations in 1958 when Vietnam Civil Aviation started flying from Hanoi–Gia Lâm to Nà Sản and Điện Biên by

Antonov An-2 The Antonov An-2 ("kukuruznik"—corn crop duster; USAF/DoD reporting name Type 22, NATO reporting name Colt) is a Soviet mass-produced single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft designed and manufactured by the Antonov Design Bure ...

. After the

Reunification of Vietnam Reunification Day ( vi, Ngày Thống nhất), Victory Day (), Liberation Day ( or ), or the official name Day of Southern Liberation for National Reunification () is a public holiday in Vietnam that marks the event when North Vietnamese and ...

, the airport opened from 1994 until May 2004 when it was closed for "upgrades and maintenance". Since then, the airport has been disused.

Usage

There are currently no scheduled services to Nà Sản as the airport is closed. In January 2015, an upgrade was proposed for the airport. According to the modified plan for 2020 with vision to 2030, the airport would become a mixed-use domestic airport capable of handling 900,000 passengers a year by 2020 and 1.5 million by 2030, its single runway would be extended to . However, Nà Sản Airport was dropped from the modified planning of Vietnam's air transport development released in February 2018. This leaves

Điện Biên Phủ Airport Dien Bien Airport ( vi, Sân bay Điện Biên) is located at Điện Biên Phủ in Vietnam. History Điện Biên Phủ Airport was established in 1954 as Mường Thanh Airfield. The main purpose of it is to serve the French HQ in Điện ...

, west of Nà Sản, the sole airport of Vietnam's Northwest region while Nà Sản Airport's future remains unclear. In February 2021, Son La Province People's Committee has submitted a request to the Ministry of Transport to add Nà Sản Airport to the priority investment list from 2021 to 2030, stated the airport has "significant strategic importance to national defense". Its sister airport in the Northwest Region,

has a very short runway and sits in the middle of a basin, which leads to the inability to lengthen the runway, which rendered the airport unable to accommodate large aircraft, both commercial (such as the

A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the famil ...

and similar) and military (fighter jets such as the

Su-22 The Sukhoi Su-17 (''izdeliye'' S-32) is a variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber developed for the Soviet military. Its NATO reporting name is "Fitter". Developed from the Sukhoi Su-7, the Su-17 was the first variable-sweep wing aircraft to enter ...

and the Su-30MK2V) and transport aircraft (such as the

C-295 The CASA C-295 (now Airbus C295) is a medium tactical transport aircraft that was designed and initially manufactured by the Spain, Spanish aerospace company CASA (aircraft manufacturer), CASA. Work on what would become the C-295 was started d ...

). In August 2022, the Son La Province People's Committee has officially submitted the proposal to the Prime Minister and the whole Vietnamese Government for review.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Na San Airport Defunct airports in Vietnam Airports in Vietnam Buildings and structures in Sơn La province

History

First Indochina War (1946 – 1954)

Post First Indochina War (1954 – present)

Usage

See also

References