Transport ministry promises wider airport in Huế

March 23, 2018 - 17:30

The Ministry of Transport has agreed to upgrade an airport in Thừa Thiên-Huế Province, aiming to boost the development of this central locality and its neighbours.

Aircraft of a local carrier lands at Phú Bài Airport in Huế. — Photo baothuathienhue.vn
Viet Nam News

THỪA THIÊN- HUẾ — The Ministry of Transport has agreed to upgrade an airport in Thừa Thiên-Huế Province, aiming to boost the development of this central locality and its neighbours.

At a meeting between the ministry and provincial authorities in Hà Nội on Wednesday, Transport Minister Nguyễn Văn Thể said Phú Bài Airport in the province was in the list of airports that would receive investment for upgradation during 2018-20.

Thể said the process for upgradation was being undertaken according to a master plan earlier approved by the Prime Minister to boost the development of the province, including the expansion of the airport.

According to Nguyễn Văn Cao, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, increasing arrivals of flights in the airport has exceeded its capacity, overloading it last year.

Cao said the airport’s infrastructure needed an urgent upgrade and more runways to ease the load. He also said the airport needed a separate terminal for international arrivals.

Phú Bài Airport has an annual capacity of 1.5 million passengers, but last year it welcomed 1.75 million passengers. The annual growth in passenger volume from 2014 to 2017 was 15 per cent, and Cao expected it to reach 17 per cent in the coming year.

According to him, Huế is a tourism hotspot and five million visitors are expected by 2020, which makes upgradation a must.

Last year, the local tourism sector demanded the People’s Committee to construct more runways to meet the increasing demand and ease the load. — VNS

 

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