Aircraft parked at Nội Bài International Airport. The plan to expand the airport's capacity by 2050 is under discussion. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Transport has announced an airport development plan that would expand Hà Nội-based Nội Bài International Airport to serve 100 million passengers per year, but has denied a request for a second airport in the capital city until at least 2030.

A dispatch from Hà Nội’s People’s Committee, signed by Deputy Chairman Dương Đức Tuấn, was sent to the ministry earlier this month and proposed that the airport should be able to handle 130-150 million passengers per year by 2050 instead of the 100 million passengers mentioned in the national airport system development master planning.

The city proposed two options. The first option was to expand Nội Bài International Airport to a capacity of about 65 million passengers per year and to build a second airport with a capacity of 65 million passengers per year.

The second option was to upgrade the capacity of Nội Bài International Airport to 100 million passengers per year and build a second airport with capacity for about 50 million passengers.

The city proposed the planned location of the second airport in Ứng Hòa District, about 54 kilometres away from the city centre, placing it near transport connections including Pháp Vân-Cầu Giẽ Expressway, the Eastern Expressway, the Ring Road 5, the National Highway 5 and National Highway 7A, and railroad and waterway systems.

The 1,300 hectares required would also be mostly agricultural land requiring minimal land clearing.

Deputy Minister of Transport, Lê Anh Tuấn, said that he assigned a team to review the plans and to research the location of the second airport and they proposed increasing air transport capacity to 60-65 passengers per year by 2030 and 100 million passengers by 2050.

The ministry has said this is the best option due to its financial and economic efficiency and the advantage of Nội Bài's location for flight management and operation.

It also added that Ứng Hòa would be an unfeasible location for the second airport, adding that there were potential locations in Thanh Miến in Hải Dương Province and Tiên Lãng in Hải Phòng City.

The ministry said it would base on the recovery and development of aviation after the COVID-19 pandemic to have full research on the location of the second airport in the city. — VNS