Hanoi authorities are planning on building a second airdrome to ease pressure on the capital’s currently crowded airport, according to a senior planning and architecture official.
The municipal Department of Planning and Architecture is preparing a feasibility report for a new airdrome to the south of the city to lighten the burden on Noi Bai International Airport, Pham Quoc Tuyen, deputy director of the department, said on Tuesday.
Based on the master plan for the city’s infrastructure, the Department of Planning and Architecture is appraising the feasibility of outlying Ung Hoa District as the location for the new airport.
The planned airport is meant to shoulder part of the traffic from Noi Bai International Airport, which is constantly pushed to full capacity despite having undergone many expansion projects in the past years.
Other expansion projects are still pending at the Noi Bai airport, including the addition of two new terminals.
In an earlier request to the Hanoi People’s Committee, the Department of Planning and Architecture has called for close cooperation between the Department of Transport, the Transport Engineering Design Inc., and relevant agencies to devise a draft proposal for the new airport.
The planning authority also endorsed the construction of the new airport to the south of the capital city, as well as the upgrade of Noi Bai to the capacity of 100 million passengers from the current 29 million passengers per year.
As per the prime minister-approved master plan to develop the capital’s airport system in 2021-30 with a vision for 2050, the Ministry of Transport is assigned to implement feasibility research on the expansion of existing airports, most importantly the major facilities of Noi Bai, Cat Bi in Hai Phong, Da Nang, and Long Thanh in Dong Nai Province, among others, so that land required for these projects can be reserved.
This article was originally published on Tuoitre