Vietnam opens Van Don International Airport

Vietnam’s Van Don Airport began operations with its first commercial flight Dec 30, becoming the country’s first privately-operated airport. Developed by Vietnam real estate developer Sun Group under the Build Operate Transfer model, Van Don Airport is situated in Quang Ninh province, where UNESCO World Heritage site Ha Long Bay is located. The location gives passengers an alternative to the increasingly overcrowded Hanoi Noi Ba airport, and cuts travelling time to Ha Long Bay from 3 hours from Hanoi, to around 1 hour from Van Don. The 27,000 sqm terminal can handle 7 Code E aircraft via 4 aerobridges (1 Code E and 3 Code C) and can accommodate a total of 2.5m passengers annually. Van Don is expected to handle half a million passengers by the end of 2019 and 2.5m by 2020. <br/>