Dong Hoi Airport is an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

located in Loc Ninh commune, north of

Đồng Hới Đồng Hới () is the capital city of Quảng Bình Province in the north central coast of Vietnam. The city's area is . Population as per the 2019 census was 133,672. It is served by National Highway 1A, the Đồng Hới Railway Station, a ...

city, capital of

Quảng Bình Province Quảng Bình was formerly a southern coastal Provinces of Vietnam, province in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Việt Nam, Vietnam. It borders Hà Tĩnh province, Hà Tĩnh to the north, Quảng Trị province, ...

, in North Central Coast 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 ...

, about southeast of

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

by road. The facilities cover 173 ha, on a sandy area, by the coast of

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

. The runway approaches near the seashore and nearly parallel to the Highway 1. The airport, like all civil airports in Vietnam, is owned and operated by

Airports Corporation of Vietnam Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV; ) is a Vietnamese joint-stock company with 95.4% state-owned shares, based in Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vie ...

. The

airstrip An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

was built unpaved by French colonists in the 1930s to serve the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

and was later upgraded by

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

as an airbase for the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. On 30 August 2004, the reconstruction of the airport began and was scheduled to be completed in 2006 but not until May 2008 was it inaugurated. On May 18, 2008, the airport was officially put into operation with the first commercial flight from

's Noi Bai International Airport. As of March 2015, this is one of 4 commercial airports in North Central Coast, the others are

Phu Bai International Airport Phu Bai International Airport is located just south of the central city of Huế, the former capital of Vietnam. History On October 30, 2005, Phú Bài Airport officially welcomed its first international flight since it was allowed to recei ...

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

, Vinh Airport in Nghệ An Province, and Tho Xuan Airport in Thanh Hóa Province. The airport handled 500,000 passengers in 2017, to its full designed capacity. The airport is estimated to handle 700,000 passengers in 2018. An expansion project is planned to start in the Q4 2018, with the extension of the runway to 3600 m (category runway 4E) along with one parallel taxiway, capable of serving large aircraft like

Airbus A350 The Airbus A350 is a flight length, long-range, wide-body twin-engine airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The initial A350 design proposed in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the Airbu ...

Boeing 787 The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, wh ...

, with two separate international and domestic terminals, with a combined designed capacity of 10 million passengers per annum.

History

The site of the airport was formerly an unpaved

built by the French colonists and used from 1930 to 1954 to launch air raids against

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a Communist Party of Vietnam, communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1 ...

forces in the Central of Vietnam and Laotian communist forces

Pathet Lao The Pathet Lao (), officially the Lao People's Liberation Army, was a communist political movement and political organization, organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group ultimately gained control over the entire country of ...

in the Central and Southern Laos during the

. In

, the government of the

Democratic Republic of Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it opposed the French-suppor ...

consolidated the runway surface of the airfield. This airstrip was used by North Vietnam as a transit point for air transport of personnel or cargo to the battlefields in the

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

, especially those along the

Ho Chi Minh trail The Ho Chi Minh Trail (), also called Annamite Range Trail () was a Military logistics, logistical network of roads and trails that ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the kingdoms of Kingdom of Laos, Laos and Cambodia (1953–1970), ...

. However, during Vietnam War, this airstrip was not the base for

North Vietnamese North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

air attack on the United States battleships on South China Sea in an air raid known as

Battle of Đồng Hới The Battle of Đồng Hới was a clash between United States Navy warships and Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, MiG-17F fighter bombers and shore batteries on 19 April 1972, during the Vietnam War. This was the second ...

. The North Vietnamese fighters took off from

Khe Gát Airfield Khe Gát Airfield ( Vietnamese: Sân bay Khe Gát, also known as Khe Phat Airfield) was a military airfield in Bo Trach District, Quang Binh, Vietnam. It was built within seven months in 1969 and played a major role for the Vietnam People's Air ...

near

Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park Phong may refer to: Computer graphics *Phong shading *Phong reflection model * Blinn–Phong shading model * Bui Tuong Phong - creator of the Phong shading interpolation method and reflection model. Other * Phong-Kniang language * Nam Phong ...

instead. This airstrip was the site

Ho Chi Minh (born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), colloquially known as Uncle Ho () among other aliases and sobriquets, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician who served as the founder and first President of Vietnam, president of the ...

landed for his North Vietnamese southernmost visit ever to Quảng Bình during Vietnam War, he landed here at 8:30 am June 16, 1957 and took off back to Hanoi at 5 pm June 17, 1957. It was also the site then North Vietnamese prime minister Pham Van Dong and

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n president

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

landed for a visit to the then newly occupied zone by North Vietnam of Quảng Trị in 1972. General Văn Tiến Dũng landed here before entering South Vietnam for direct command of communist forces in the last period of Vietnam War renowned as Ho Chi Minh Campaign in 1975. After the

fall of Saigon The fall of Saigon, known in Vietnam as Reunification Day (), was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. As part of the 1975 spring offensive, this decisive event led to the collapse of the So ...

, this airfield was controlled by the

Vietnam People's Army 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 ...

but used it for military and flood rescue activities on an irregular basis, and the airfield was actually almost abandoned. In 2003,

was listed in

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Sites World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

list. The park contains systems of grottoes and caves, of which Vietnamese and British scientists have so far surveyed 20 with a total length of 70 km. Besides caves and grottoes, Phong Nha has the longest underground rivers, the largest caverns and passageways, the widest and prettiest sand banks, and the most astonishing rock formations in the world. Moreover, Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng is rich in

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

. At the final conference of the National Council for Cultural Heritage held in Vietnam in 2007, scientists attending the meeting highly praised the scientific documentation of Phong Nha-Ke Bang park. Accordingly, the park is second to no other national parks listed in UNESCO's world heritage sites as far as biodiversity is concerned. Since Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park was listed in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, the number of tourists to this park increased significantly, which required air links between this province with other major cities of Vietnam, namely

and

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

. The construction of Dong Hoi Airport was started on August 30, 2004, and was scheduled to be completed by the last quarter of 2007. The estimated cost to build the airport is $15 million, which was invested by the Northern Aviation Authority of Vietnam, an entity under the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam.Feasibility Study Report approved by the Minister of Transport of Vietnam in 2004 The construction schedule of the airport was behind the schedule due to lack of capital from the government. It was scheduled to be completed in February 2008, but there were some pending items (10% of the total work), the deadline was extended. According to the next revised schedule, this airport would be completed and opened in 3rd quarter of 2008. Construction of the facilities achieved completion in May 2008. The Prime Minister of Vietnam signed a decision dated May 15, 2008 to put this airport into operation on May 18, 2008. The first commercial flight originated from

's Noi Bai International Airport landed at this airport on May 18, 2008, the official inaugural date of the airport. In April 2018, a Vietnamese private conglomerate, FLC Group (the owner of the

Bamboo Airways Bamboo Airways JSC () is a Vietnamese airline founded in 2017. Commencing operations in January 2019, this carrier declared that it would be following the "hybrid airline" model. Bamboo Airways operates a fleet of the narrowbody Airbus A320, A320 ...

) submitted to the Vietnamese authorities its proposal to expand this airport. The Ministry of Transport of Vietnam has approved this proposal to expand this airport in Q4 of 2018 and to launch more international flight routes. The expansion is scheduled to start in Q4/2018 with the expansion of the runway to 3600 m, construction of a new terminal with designed capacity of 10 million passengers per annum and other auxiliary facilities. After the completion of the expansion project in 2020, this airport will have one 4E category runway (3600 m x 45 m) along with one parallel taxiway, capable of serving large aircraft like A350, B787, with two separate international and domestic terminals, designed capacity of 10 million passengers per annum.

Facilities

Dong Hoi Airport covers 173 ha, has one concrete paved

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

(2,400 m x 45 m), ranked 4D according to

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

, a two-story 4282-square-meter terminal, 15,000-square-meter apron for 2

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

and

Airbus A321 The Airbus A321 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range, Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body, commercial passenger Twinjet, twin engine jet airliners; it carries 185 to 236 passengers. It has a stretched fuselage which was ...

s or equivalent, an air traffic control tower and six check-in counters and security equipment. The airport is capable of handling medium range aircraft like Airbus A320, A321 or equivalent. Expansion plan has been approved by the government of Vietnam to make this airport capable to serve jumbo jets like Boeing 767. This airport has a designed capability of 300 passengers/peak hour or 500,000 passengers per annum. An instrument landing system was equipped in 2013. The

apron An apron is a garment worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body to protect from liquids. They have several purposes, most commonly as a functional accessory that protects clothes and skin from stains and marks. However, other typ ...

was scheduled to be expanded in 2014 to add 2 more parking spaces for medium range aircraft.Airports Corporation of Vietnam Official Website
The installation of runway lighting was completed on October 16, 2014, allowing the operation 24/24.

Airlines and destinations

Current destinations

The airport serves Dong Hoi city. It will serve mainly tourists to beaches in Dong Hoi city and World Natural Heritage of Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, the starting point of The Middle World Heritage Road. As of July 2020,

Vietnam Airlines Vietnam Airlines () is the flag carrier of Vietnam. The airline was founded in 1956 and later established as a Government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise in April 1989. Vietnam Airlines is headquartered in Long Biên district, Hanoi ...

VietJet Air Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company (), operating as VietJet Air or Vietjet, is a Vietnamese low-cost airline based in Hanoi. It was the first privately owned airline to be established in Vietnam, being granted its initial approval to operate ...

, Pacific Airlines are providing non-stop flights linking this airport with Noi Bai International Airport (

) and

Tan Son Nhat International Airport Tan Son Nhat International Airport is an international airport serving Ho Chi Minh City, the List of cities in Vietnam, most populous city in Vietnam. The airport is located in the Tân Bình district within the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan ...

(

),Official website of Vietnam Airlines
DHAirport11

The first international flight from this airport to

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai, sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, second largest city in Thailan ...

was launched by Jetstar Pacific (now Pacific Airlines) on August 11, 2017, with two flights per week

Former routes

Hai Phong Haiphong or Hai Phong (, ) is the third-largest city in Vietnam and is the principal port city of the Red River Delta. The municipality has an area of , consisting of 8 urban districts, 6 rural districts and 1 municipal city (sub-city). Two ...

Future destinations

Depending the actual demands, Vietnam Airlines will open flights linking this airport with Lien Khuong Airport (

Da Lat Da Lat, or Dalat (; ), is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province and the largest city of the Central Highlands (Vietnam), Central Highlands region in Vietnam. The city is located above sea level on the Langbiang Plateau. Da Lat is one of the mos ...

), Cam Ranh Airport (

Nha Trang Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city had ...

Statistics

Statistics in 2009-2011 *2008: 104 aircraft movements, 2351 passengers *2009: 470 aircraft movements, 22,564 passengers *2010: 984 aircraft movements, 49,803 passengers *2011: 956 aircraft movements, 68,427 passengers *2012: 1104 aircraft movements, 90,000 passengers *2013: 105,586 passengers *2014: 114,000 passengers *2015: 261,372 passengers, an increase of 122,1% compared to that of 2014. *2016: 365,820 passenger (an increase of 39.96% vs 2015). *2017: 500,000 (an increase 36,67% compared to that of 2016)

References

External links

Dong Hoi Airport on Airports Corporation of Vietnam, the owner and operator of Vietnam's all civil airports

Dong Hoi Airport Transfer service

''Viet Nam News'', September 1, 2004
Airport & Ground Support Equipment (AGSE) in Vietnam
by Le Son (11/25/2005)
Decision dated 2003-6-12 by the Civil Aviation Agency of Vietnam on the master planning of Dong Hoi Airport
(Vietnamese only) {{authority control Airports in Vietnam Buildings and structures in Quảng Bình province Installations of the Vietnam People's Air Force