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Gia Lam airport to have double duty
Hanoi will have an upgraded airport in the inner part of the city, Gia Lam airport, which proves to be favourable for passengers taking short-distance flights.
The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) only announced the plan on Gia Lam airport development in late September, though the plan was approved in 2006.
According to Do Quang Toan, Deputy Head of the Airport Management Board under CAAV, Gia Lam airport will serve both civilian and military purposes.
Gia Lam airport, which has a runway of 2,000 m in length and 45 m in width, is capable of receiving ATR72, Fokker and similar aircrafts. As the airport only has the same scale as Dien Bien and Na San airports, it cannot receive big aircrafts like Airbus or Boeing.
Gia Lam airport covers an area of 302.61 ha, of which the area for military purposes is 144.44 ha and the area for civilian purposes is 80 ha. There is also a common area of 66.4 ha.
It is expected that by 2015, Gia Lam airport will have a terminal with the capacity of 162,000 passengers a year, and a landing area capable of receiving three ATR72 or Fokkers.
When Gia Lam airport becomes operational again, passengers flying from Hanoi to Na San, Dien Bien in the north and Vinh city in the central region and taking other short-distance flights will not have to spend 1 hour to go to Noi Bai Airport. Gia Lam is only 10 minutes from the centre of town.
Some sources have said that Gia Lam could become the airport for budget airlines. However, some experts say that budget airlines may not be interested in the airport, though it is near the centre of the city. The problem is that the airport is capable of receiving small planes only.
Airport development programmers have estimated that it will take some VND137bil to upgrade Gia Lam airport, to make it capable of hosting multiple ATR72, Fokker, and receive 150,000 passengers per year. Meanwhile, it will take another VND150bil to develop it further as planned by 2015. The total sum of money needed to upgrade the infrastructure to meet the civil exploitation is VND287bil.
VNN
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