Van Don International Airport or Ha Long Airport ( vi, Sân bay quốc tế Vân Đồn) , is an airport in Vân Đồn District, Quảng Ninh Province,

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 ...

, home to

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Ha Long Bay. It is located about away from

Hạ Long Hạ Long () is the capital city and first-class provincial city of Quảng Ninh province, Vietnam. The name Hạ Long () means "descending dragon". The city was founded in 1993, when the old capital, Hòn Gai, was merged with Bãi Cháy – ...

and from

Cẩm Phả Cẩm Phả () is a city of Quảng Ninh Province in the north-east region of Vietnam. It is an important coal exporting port of Vietnam (UNCTAD: VNCPH). As of February 2012, the city had a population of 195,800. The city covers an area of 486 ...

. It is the first private airport in Vietnam, built and operated by Sun Group.

Background

According to Decision No. 1296/QD-TTg approving the Prime Minister's Plan of 19/07/2009; Decision No. 21/QD-TTg approving the Transport Ministerial Decision 2020-2030 of 08/01/2009 and Decision 576/QD-BGTVT approving the planning of an airport in Quang Ninh of 16/03/2012, Van Don airport was built with standard grade 4E, military airfield level II; acting as a domestic airport and receiver of international flights; with shared civil and military use. According to the announcement of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the meeting with the leaders of Quang Ninh province in early February 2014, the adjustment of the planning of Quang Ninh airport into an international airport was approved. The Ministry of Transport is assigned to complete the planning adjustment procedures and submit them to the Prime Minister for approval; Quang Ninh People's Committee soon accelerated investment and put Van Don International Airport into operation. Vân Đồn is the first airport in Vietnam to be developed under a build–operate–transfer format with its payback period expected to last for 45 years. Construction on the airport commenced in 2015. The 3-phase project has an estimated total budget of 7.5 trillion VND (US$330 million). Upon completion of all three phases in 2030, the airport will be capable of handling 5 million passengers per year. On July 11, 2018, a

King Air 350 The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The Model 200 and Model 300 series were originally marketed as the "Super King Air" family; the "Super" designation was dropped in 1996. ...

from

Noi Bai International Airport Nội Bài International Airport ( vi, Sân bay quốc tế Nội Bài) in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is the second largest and busiest airport for passenger traffic, after Tan Son Nhat International Airport. It is currently the main airpo ...

landed in Van Don for a calibration flight, marking it the first flight that the airport received. On December 30, 2018, the airport officially opened for operations, with a flight from

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

Vietnam Airlines Vietnam Airlines ( vi, Hãng Hàng không Quốc gia Việt Nam, lit=Vietnam National Airlines) is the flag carrier of Vietnam. The airline was founded in 1956 and later established as a Government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise i ...

. Prime Minister

Nguyễn Xuân Phúc Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (born 20 July 1954) is a Vietnamese politician currently serving as the President of Vietnam, one of the highest-ranked officials in Vietnam along with Nguyễn Phú Trọng, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet ...

was present on the flight and pressed the button to formally open the airport for airline operations. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam, Van Don International Airport has been serving as a designated airport for repatriation flights of Vietnamese citizens from abroad in the North, alongside

Phu Cat Phu or ''variation'', may refer to: Places *Phủ, prefecture in 15th–19th century Vietnam People Given name *Phu Dorjee (died 1987), first Indian to climb Mount Everest without oxygen *Phu Dorjee Sherpa (died 1969), first Nepali to climb Mount ...

in the Central region and Can Tho in the South. Notable flights include from

Wuhan, China Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city and ...

, Kyiv, Ukraine,

Toronto, Canada Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

and

San Francisco, United States San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of California cities by population, fourt ...

. The flight to San Francisco is considered to be the first flight from a Vietnamese carrier to the United States. Airlines participating in the repatriation flights include

, Bamboo Airways and

VietJet Air VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Company ( vi, Công ty Cổ phần Hàng không VietJet), trading as VietJet Air (or simply Vietjet), is an international low-cost airline from Vietnam. It was the first privately owned new-age airline to be establi ...

. Normal passenger flights resumed from May 4.

Facilities and infrastructure

Located on the coast of Quảng Ninh, Van Don International Airport covers an area of and contains one single runway: *Runway 03/21: with a 300 m x 300 m (984.3 ft x 984.3 ft) runway safety area Runway 03/21 is certified for Cat II Instrument Landing operations. The airport has 7 aircraft parking stands and an

air traffic control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...

tall.

Passenger Terminal

Van Don is building one passenger terminal capable of handling 2.5 million passengers and 10,000 cargo tons per year The terminal has an area of almost . It is equipped with 4 jet bridges (1 Code E and 3 Code C), 4 baggage carousels, 8 security gates and 31 check-in counters.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Ground transport

The

Ninh Binh-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh Expressway connects the airport to Ha Long city. It was built at a cost of over US$500 million. Operation started in December 2018.

References

External links

Official website

Quang Ninh International Airport on Voice of Vietnam
{{authority control Airports in Vietnam Buildings and structures in Quảng Ninh province Airports established in 2018