Aviation centre HANOI: The province of Bắc Ninh is preparing to establish itself as Vietnam’s next big aviation centre with the major expansion of Gia Bình International Airport to increase total passenger and cargo handling capacity by 2050.
Minister of Construction Trần Hồng Minh has approved modifications to the airport’s master plan for 2021-30, providing for the facility to service around 30 million passengers and 1.6 million tonnes of cargo annually during the first stage. The airport is to be outfitted with two runways, a northern runway measuring 3,500 m and a southern runway measuring 4,000 m, which are separated by 1.8 km.
Each will be able to handle large aircraft, including Boeing’s models 747s, 777s, 787s and Airbus’ models A380S, A350S, and A321S. In order to have operations run seamlessly, taxiways will be constructed alongside both runways, with taxiways for connections and rapid-exit taxiways to maximise efficient movement of the aircraft through taxiways to aprons.
By 2050, Gia Bình Airport is projected to service up to 50 million passengers and will handle upwards of 2.5 million tonnes of cargo each year.
The airport will be a southern gateway key to both domestic and international travel and trade. The Ministry of Construction has designated 1,960 hectares of land for the airport as part of the current planning stage. The airport will be joined to the Hanoi–Hai Phong Expressway and will also include an urban rail station next to the passenger terminal to link it with the national railway and Hanoi metro system.
This large development is expected to facilitate northern Vietnam’s economic development and reinforce northern Vietnam’s role in the transport and logistics of Vietnam.
