HẢI PHÒNG – Part of the runway of Cát Bi International Airport in northern Hải Phòng City has been seriously downgraded after a long time in use, forcing airlines to cut flights to the airport, the Civil Aviation Authority of Việt Nam (CAAV) has said.

A CAAV report showed that the runway named N, which was part of the airport’s runway system, was built in 1996. Although its cement was covered with a 26-centimetre-thick concrete layer, the road has been downgraded by more than 20 years of use.

Since last June, the airport has conducted repairs on the road seven times. Number of flights has been lowered, affecting airline service delivery quality, it reported.

To ensure aviation safety, the CAAV has decided to decrease the frequency of flights to or from the airport. It has also directed units to monitor the state of the road and to repair damages.

For example, Vietnam Airlines has reduced at least seven tonnes of cargo per commercial flight, halted flights from Hải Phòng to Cam Ranh Airport in central Khánh Hoà Province and cut the number of flights from Hải Phòng to Đà Nẵng Airport down to four flights a week.

The CAAV has worked with Hải Phòng City’s People’s Committee, Hải Phòng Bridge Management Board, Airports Corporation of Việt Nam and Cát Bi International Airport Management Board to accelerate the second phase of the Cát Bi International Airport expansion project.

In this phase, a runway will be built in parallel with the current one and is scheduled to go operational in July.

During construction of the new runway, Cát Bi International Airport has been asked to conduct regular inspection on damages of the current one to guarantee the safety of flights.

In 2016, a project to expand Cát Bi International Airport with total investment of more than VNĐ5 trillion (US$220 million) was finished. A new terminal with the capacity of 2 million passengers per year was put into use.

However, the number of passengers has drastically increased. In the first three months of this year, the number has reached 538,000 passengers and is likely to exceed 2.1 million by the end of this year.

Thus, in early May, the CAAV approved the city’s proposal of building the second terminal, which will be able to serve 8 million passengers by 2025. – VNS