HCMC – The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has proposed the Ministry of Transport reduce the number of hours the Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport is shut to repair and upgrade the runways and taxiways in order to ease the overload.
Instead of shutting the airport from 0.30 a.m. to 6.30 a.m. each day, the authority proposed opening the door 30 minutes earlier and shutting it from 0.30 a.m. to 6.00 a.m., VietnamPlus news site reported.
After a short suspension of activities at the airport as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, since early September, local airlines have resumed their operations and domestic flights. Some air carriers such as Bamboo Airways have launched several new routes, piling pressure on the airport, according to a CAAV report.
Due to the rising number of flights and the limited capacity at the airport, which serves 25 flights per hour, flight delays have risen, especially during rush hours, said a CAAV representative.
Earlier, under the Ministry of Transport’s directive, the CAAV had mapped out a plan to suspend operations at the Noi Bai International Airport from 0.30 a.m. to 6.30 a.m. between September 1 and January 31, 2021.
Speaking at an inspection session of the repair of the runways and taxiways at Noi Bai airport in late August, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The asked relevant units to complete the project prior to November 30 this year.
The project, which requires a total cost of VND2.03 trillion, is set to be carried out in two phases and include upgrading runways 11L/29R and 11R/29L, building new taxiways, repairing several current taxiways and other components.
