Vinh International Airport in Nghệ An Province needs a new runway and taxiway. VNA/VNS Photo

NGHỆ AN – Airports Corporation of Việt Nam (ACV) has issued a document requesting the Ministry of Transport to consider and approve a project to upgrade the runway and taxiway of Vinh International Airport in Nghệ An Province.

The airport's runway and taxiway have reached the end of their design life, while the number of passengers has increased in recent years.

ACV's report shows that from 2017 until now, the runway and taxiway have only been maintained to ensure they are operationally safe, but they have not had any major overhauls. Meanwhile, the airport has continued to become busier, with an average increase of 15 per cent in volume from 2015 to 2019 and passenger numbers reaching more than 2.6 million in 2022.

According to an inspection from Airport Design and Construction Consultancy One Member Limited Liability Company (ADCC), the runway and taxiway at the airport both need to be repaired.

The asphalt concrete road surface has shown typical types of damage such as a deformed asphalt surface, tire ruts, cracks and asphalt peel-off that affect operational safety.

To ensure safe, sustainable, long-term operations and improve the operational capacity of the airport, which can now receive modern aircraft such as the fully loaded Airbus A320/A321, ACV recommended that, in addition to resurfacing, they build brake strips at both ends of the runways and renovate and repair the safety strips for that and the taxiway.

The runways would be made of steel mesh and concrete to prolong its working life and provide additional protection against adverse weather conditions.

ACV estimated that the total investment of the project is VNĐ745 billion (US$29.1 million) using aviation infrastructure maintenance capital, invested in and managed the State.

The project will take about four months, so ACV recommended closing the airport after the Lunar New Year in 2025 and finishing construction before the summer peak in 2025, in order to minimise travel disruption.

ACV also proposed that the Ministry of Transport co-ordinate with the People's Committee of Nghệ An Province to study other investment plans including land clearance work, arrangement of the approach light system, increase of the flight strip size and construction of a security fence.

One proposal is to re-use the approach light systems which will be removed following the upgrades and renovations of the runways at Nội Bài and Tân Sơn Nhất international airports for the project.

Vinh International Airport is one of 22 airports managed and operated by ACV.

From 1993 to 2000, the airport’s runway was first expanded to 2,174m long and 30m wide. Then in 2003 it was further extended to 2,400m and 45m so that it could land the Airbus A320 and A321 planes or their equivalent. VNS