On Thursday morning, flight VN611 (Boeing 787-9) of Vietnam Airlines took off safely on runway 1B at Nội Bài International Airport. — VNA/VNS Photo

 HÀ NỘI — Runway 1B at Nội Bài International Airport in Hà Nội, which has been upgraded, was put into operation on September 9, according to the Ministry of Transport (MoT).

On Thursday morning, flight VN611 (Boeing 787-9) of Vietnam Airlines took off safely on runway 1B.

Seven minutes later, a Boeing 747 8F of Cargolux Airlines (Austria) also landed safely on the runway.

Dương Viết Roãn, Director of Thang Long Project Management Board, said all workload of the runway 1B upgrade has been completed.

Nguyễn Bách Tùng, Deputy Director of the MoT's Department of Construction Management and Quality of Traffic Works, said although the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected the construction, contractors have tried their best and followed the approved plan.

The quality of the project met the strict requirements of the aviation industry and the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), he said.

A day earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) decided to put the runway into operation based on the operation of Nội Bài Airport.

The CAAV asked the airport to coordinate with Việt Nam Flight Management Corporation to notify domestic and international airlines in line with current regulations and direct the Northern Flight Management Company to organise operations to ensure that the flights are safe.

Nội Bài is one of the two biggest airports of Việt Nam which play an important role in boosting socio-economic development and ensuring defence-security.

Work to upgrade the 1B runway is part of the two-phase project to repair the Nội Bài runways started on June 29 last year with an estimated cost of about VND2.03 trillion (over US$88 million).

The upgrade of runway 1A is scheduled to start on October 1 and be complete before the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday. — VNS