| Dong Hoi Airport Sân bay Đồng Hới Cảng hàng không Đồng Hới |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam Airlines' Airbus A320 at Dong Hoi Airport | |||
| IATA: VDH – ICAO:
VDH
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | Northern Airports Corporation | ||
| Operator | Northern Airports Authority | ||
| Location | Dong Hoi | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 11/29 | 7,874 | 2,400 | Concrete |
| Statistics (2011 (estimated)) | |||
| Aircraft movement | 1,025 | ||
| passgenger volume | 70,500 | ||
| [1] | |||
Dong Hoi Airport (Vietnamese: Cảng hàng không Đồng Hới or Sân bay Đồng Hới) is an airport located in Loc Ninh commune, 6 km north of Dong Hoi city, capital of Quang Binh province, in North Central Coast of Vietnam, 500 km South-east of Hanoi by road. The facilities cover 173 ha, on a sandy area, by the coast of South China Sea. The runway approaches near the seashore and nearly parallel to the Highway 1A.
The airstrip was built unpaved by French colonists in 1930s to serve First Indochina War and was upgraded by North Vietnam as an airbase for Vietnam War. On 30 August 2004, the renovation (actually reconstruction) of this airport began and was scheduled to be completed in 2006 [2] but not until May 2008 was it inaugurated. On May 18 2008, the airport was officially put into operation with the first commercial flight from Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport.[3][4]
As of 2008, this is one of three commercial airports in Bac Trung Bo, the others are Phu Bai International Airport (90 miles (144 km) south of Dong Hoi Airport) in Huế) and Vinh Airport (97 miles (155 km) north of Dong Hoi Airport) in Nghe An Province.
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The site of the airport was formerly an unpaved airstrip built by the French colonists and used from 1930 to 1954 to launch air raids against Viet Minh forces in the Central of Vietnam and Laotian communist forces Pathet Lao in the Central and Southern Laos during First Indochina War.[5]
In Vietnam War, the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam consolidated the runway surface of the airfield. This airstrip was used by North Vietnam as a transit point for air transport of personnel or cargo to the battlefields in the South Vietnam, especially those along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
However, during Vietnam War, this airstrip was not the base for North Vietnamese air attack on the United States battleships on South China Sea in an air raid known as Battle of Dong Hoi. The North Vietnamese fighters took off from Khe Gat Airfield near Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park instead. [6]
This airstrip was the site Ho Chi Minh landed for his North Vietnamese southernmost visit ever to Quang Binh during Vietnam War, he landed here at 8:30 am June 16, 1957 and took off back to Hanoi at 5 pm June 17, 1957. [7] It was also the site then North Vietnamese prime minister Pham Van Dong and Cuban president Fidel Castro landed for a visit to the then newly-occupied zone by North Vietnam of Quang Tri in 1972. [8][9] General Van Tien Dung landed here before entering South Vietnam for direct command of communist forces in the last period of Vietnam War renowned as Ho Chi Minh Campaign in 1975. [8]
After the fall of Saigon, this airfield was controlled by the Vietnam People's Army but used it for military and flood rescue activities on an irregular basis, and the airfield was actually almost abandoned. [5]
In 2003, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park was listed in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list.[10] The park contains systems of grottoes and caves, of which Vietnamese and British scientists have so far surveyed 20 with a total length of 70km. Besides caves and grottoes, Phong Nha has the longest underground rivers, the largest caverns and passageways, the widest and prettiest sand banks, and the most astonishing rock formations in the world. [11] Moreover, Phong Nha-Ke Bang is rich in biodiversity. At the final conference of the National Council for Cultural Heritage held in Vietnam in 2007, scientists attending the meeting highly praised the scientific documentation of Phong Nha-Ke Bang park. Accordingly, the park is second to no other national parks listed in UNESCO’s world heritage sites as far as biodiversity is concerned.[12] Since Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park was listed in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, the number of tourists to this park increased significantly,[13] which required air links between this province with other major cities of Vietnam, namely Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.[5]
The construction of Dong Hoi Airport was started on August 30, 2004 and was scheduled to be completed by the last quarter of 2007. [2] The estimated cost to build the airport is $15 million which was invested by the Northern Aviation Authority of Vietnam, an entity under the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam.[5][14] The construction schedule of the airport was behind the schedule due to lack of capital from the government. It was scheduled to be completed in February 2008, but there were some pending items (10% of the total work), the deadline was extended. [15] According to the next revised schedule, this airport would be completed and opened in 3rd quarter of 2008. [16] Construction of the facilities achieved completion in May 2008. The Prime Minister of Vietnam signed a decision dated May 15 2008 to put this airport into operation on May 18 2008. The first commercial flight originated from Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport landed at this airport on May 18, 2008, the official inaugural date of the airport.[17]
Dong Hoi Airport covers 173 ha, has one concrete paved runway (2,400 m x 45 m), ranked 4D according to ICAO, a two-story 4282-square-meter-terminal, 15,000-square-kilometer apron for 2 Airbus A320 and Airbus A321s or equivalent, an air traffic control tower and six check-in counters and security equipment. The airport is capable of handling medium range aircraft like Airbus A320, A321 or equivalent. Expansion plan has been approved by the government of Vietnam to make this airport capable to serve jumbo jets like Boeing 767.
This airport has a designed capability of 300 passengers/peak hour or 500,000 passengers per annum.[17][18][19]
The airport serves Dong Hoi city, It will serve mainly tourists to beaches in Dong Hoi city and World Natural Heritage of Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, the starting point of The Middle World Heritage Road. As of December 2009, Vietnam Airlines is providing non-stop flights linking this airport with Noi Bai International Airport (Ha Noi) and Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Ho Chi Minh City). [5][20] [21]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Vietnam Airlines | Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City [22] |
The timetable for flights is as follows: [23]
| No. | Routes | Flight codes[24] | ETD [25] | ETA[25] | Date[25] | Aircraft[25] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hanoi - Dong Hoi | VN1591 | 06:10 | 07:40 | Daily | ATR-72 |
| 2. | Dong Hoi - Ha Noi | VN1590 | 08:20 | 10:00 | Daily | ATR-72 |
| 3. | Ho Chi Minh City - Dong Hoi | VN1400 | 10:00 | 11:35 | Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday | Airbus A320 |
| 4. | Dong Hoi – Ho Chi Minh City | VN1401 | 12:25 | 14:00 | Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday | Airbus A320 |
Note:
Depending the actual demands, Vietnam Airlines will open flights linking this airport with Cat Bi Airport (Hai Phong), Cam Ranh Airport (Nha Trang).[5]
Statistics in 2009-2011[1]
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