A runway at Nội Bài airport. — Photo vietnamplus.vn

HÀ NỘI — The upgrade of runway 1B at Nội Bài International Airport in Hà Nội will be put into operation by midnight on December 31 to meet the peak travel demand for the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.

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

According to Director of the Thăng Long Management Board project under the Ministry of Transport Dương Viết Roãn, all workload of the runway 1B upgrade was completed on December 27.

Work on checking and taking over the 3,000-metre taxiway and other facilities is being sped up, Roãn said.

The management board had a working session with representatives from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) on Monday to discuss plans of aircraft operation and other issues.

The runway’s operation duration is expected to be at least 30 years, and even up to 50 years if the periodic maintenance work is carried out regularly in line with regulations, he noted.

The CAAV has granted flight permits to domestic airlines to serve the peak days during the New Year festival and the Year of the Ox (Lunar New Year) in accordance with the capacity of Nội Bài International Airport.

The two-phase project to repair the Nội Bài runway started on June 29 with an estimated cost of about VNĐ2.03 trillion (over US$88 million). The second phase is scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2021. — VNS