A Vietnam Airlines jet at Đà Nẵng International Airport. — VNS Photo Công Thành

ĐÀ NẴNG — The Đà Nẵng People’s Committee has approved an adjustment to the expansion of Đà Nẵng International Airport Terminal 1 (T1) to deal with the current overloaded 14 million passengers per year.

The Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV)'s Đà Nẵng branch said the expanded construction area will add more than 42,000sq.m to create 96,000sq.m of standard floor area for the domestic and international passenger service zones.

This expanded area will include key infrastructure, such as a high-storey parking section, wastewater treatment, a flyover bridge, inner traffic routes and a mechanical and electrical zone, turning the airport into a smart international logistics centre in Việt Nam and Asia, ACV Đà Nẵng said.

The 12.2ha T1, which was built at a cost of VNĐ1.34 trillion (US$51 million), has been facing overcrowding issues since its inauguration in 2011. With the new planned area, increasing demand for passenger and cargo services would be met within the next few years.

According to ACV Đà Nẵng, a fund of more than VNĐ9.9 trillion ($377 million) will be used for developing the expanded area at T1 from the third quarter of 2027 to the first quarter of 2029.

ACV has already started construction on a new cargo terminal at the airport to handle 100,000 tonnes of cargo per year, with an investment of $24 million.

The airport authority also said it would upgrade and expand six new parking areas capable of storing ICAO Aerodrome reference Code C aircraft later this year.

Đà Nẵng International Airport is the first in Việt Nam with completely automated services for passengers from check-in to boarding, including the Auto Gate, an automatic immigration declaration system, self-service bag drop, self-check-in kiosks, auto boarding gate, video call kiosks and multi-language information search screens.

The airport has 24 direct air routes, of which 16 are international, with around 112 flights hosted per day.

Last year, ACV Đà Nẵng, in conjunction with the local Military Hospital C17, also provided emergency medical services for urgent transport and response actions on flights at Đà Nẵng International Airport.

Đà Nẵng has proposed a $10 billion investment to upgrade the current Chu Lai International Airport, 90 kilometres south of the city’s downtown, to serve increasing demand due to tourism, investment and logistics growth through 2050. — VNS