Van Don International Airport

Van Don International Airport or Ha Long Airport (Vietnamese: Sân bay quốc tế Vân Đồn) (IATA: VDO, ICAO: VVVD), is an airport in Vân Đồn District, Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam, home to World Heritage Ha Long Bay. It is located about 50 km (31 mi) away from Hạ Long and 20 km (12 mi) from Cẩm Phả. It is the first private airport in Vietnam, built and operated by Sun Group.

Van Don International Airport

Sân bay Quốc tế Vân Đồn
Summary
Airport typePrivate
OperatorVan Don Investment and Development JSC
Northern Airports Authority
ServesHạ Long
LocationVân Đồn, Quảng Ninh
Hub for
Coordinates21°07′04″N 107°24′51″E
Map
VDO
Location of airport in Vietnam
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
03/21 11,811 3,600 Concrete
Statistics (2019)
Total passengers260,434
Source: Taseco Airs[1]

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.[2][3][4]

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.[3] 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.[4]

On July 11, 2018, a King Air 350 from Noi Bai International Airport landed in Van Don for a calibration flight, marking it the first flight that the airport received.[2]

On December 30, 2018, the airport officially opened for operations, with a flight from Hanoi by Vietnam Airlines. Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc was present on the flight and pressed the button to formally open the airport for airline operations.[5]

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 in the Central region and Can Tho in the South. Notable flights include from Wuhan, China,[6] Kiev, Ukraine,[7] Toronto, Canada [8] and San Francisco, United States.[9] 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 Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airways and VietJet Air. Normal passenger flights resumed from May 4.[10]

Facilities and infrastructure

Located on the coast of Quảng Ninh, Van Don International Airport covers an area of 325 ha (800 acres) and contains one single runway:[11]

  • Runway 03/21: 3,600 m × 45 m (11,811 ft × 148 ft) 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 42 m (138 ft) tall.[11][2]

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 27,000 m2 (290,000 sq ft). 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.[11]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger
AirlinesDestinations
Bamboo Airways Ho Chi Minh City
Donghai Airlines Shenzhen[12]
Qingdao Airlines Charter: Changsha[13]
Vietnam Airlines Da Nang,[14] Ho Chi Minh City[15]
Charter: Seoul-Incheon[16]
VietJet Air Ho Chi Minh City

Ground transport

The Ninh Binh-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh Expressway connects the airport to Ha Long city.[17] It was built at a cost of over US$500 million.[18] Operation started in December 2018.

References
  1. "TASECO AIRS 2019 BÁO CÁO THƯỜNG NIÊN". Taseco Airs (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  2. Minh Cương. "Cảng hàng không quốc tế Vân Đồn đón chuyến bay đầu tiên". VNExpress.net (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  3. "Van Don int'l airport to be operational in 2018's Q2". News VietNamNet. VIETNAMNET Bridge. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  4. "QUYẾT ĐỊNH VỀ VIỆC PHÊ DUYỆT QUY HOẠCH CẢNG HÀNG KHÔNG QUẢNG NINH GIAI ĐOẠN ĐẾN NĂM 2020 VÀ ĐỊNH HƯỚNG ĐẾN NĂM 2030". Thư viện pháp luật. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  5. "Sân bay Vân Đồn chính thức đi vào hoạt động". Zing News. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  6. COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
  7. https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/56-nguoi-viet-tu-ukraine-ve-nuoc-tai-san-bay-van-don-20200330160633243.htm
  8. https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/san-bay-van-don-don-276-nguoi-viet-tu-canada-ve-theo-qui-trinh-dac-biet-20200501202345080.htm
  9. https://vnexpress.net/chuyen-bay-dua-340-nguoi-viet-ve-tu-my-4096622.html
  10. https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/san-bay-van-don-da-don-gan-5600-nguoi-tro-ve-tu-diem-nong-covid-19-20200502164436508.htm
  11. "Van Don International Airport - Brochure" (PDF). vdia.com.vn. Van Don International Airport. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  12. "Donghai Airlines schedules new SE Asia routes in S19". routesonline. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  13. "New air route links Quang Ninh's Van Don, China's Hunan province". VnInvestment Review. 2019-07-25. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  14. "Vietnam Airlines mở thêm một đường bay mới đến sân bay Vân Đồn". Báo Giao Thông (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  15. "Vietnam Airlines mở đường bay TP.HCM - Vân Đồn".
  16. "Sân bay Vân Đồn đón chuyến bay đầu tiên đến từ Hàn Quốc". Vietnam Financial Times. 7 June 2019.
  17. "Ha Long - Van Don expressway from height - Quang Ninh Newspaper". english.baoquangninh.com.vn.
  18. VnExpress. "Vietnam delays opening of $1 billion Ha Long Bay expressways - VnExpress International".
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