Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has assigned the People’s Committee of the northern province of Dien Bien to oversee the investment and construction of Dien Bien Airport.

According to the development plan of air transport, Dien Bien Airport will be researched and implemented from now to 2020.

The early investment and expansion of the airport is necessary to remove the bottleneck of transportation, improve air transport capacity and help the province attract investment, bring into play potential and advantages, especially in tourism; contribute to the socio-economic development and national defence and security of the country.

The Ministry of Transport will co-ordinate with the provincial People’s Committee, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to instruct investors, propose investment and construction projects to expand Dien Bien Airport and report to the Prime Minister before September 15.

According to Decision No 2501 of the Ministry of Transport, Dien Bien Airport is expected to have a capacity of about 300,000 passengers and 500 tonnes of cargo per year by 2020.

By 2030, the airport will increase capacity to two million passengers and 10,000 tonnes of cargo per year.

The airport is expected to help develop the flight routes of Dien Bien – Noi Bai and Dien Bien - Cat Bi by 2020 and exploit two additional routes of Dien Bien - Da Nang and Dien Bien - Tan Son Nhat by 2030.

In the future, Dien Bien Airport may become an international airport and carry guests from Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand. — VNS