The Saigon Times

Aircraft are parked at taxiways at the Noi Bai International Airport. Runway 1B at the Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport was put back into operation on January 1 - PHOTO: VNA

HCMC - After six months of being upgraded and repaired, the first phase of Runway 1B at the Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport (for only takeoff) was put back into operation on January 1.

Vietnam Airlines Flight VN159 from Hanoi to Danang City was the first flight to take off on the 1B runway at 8.00 a.m. on the same day after the repairs on the runway were completed.

Dang Hung Thai, director of the Noi Bai taxiway and runway upgrade project, said that Airbus A321 and A320 aircraft can take off on the 3,000-meter-long 1B runway.

The project to rehabilitate and upgrade taxiways and runways at the Noi Bai International Airport was approved in April last year and was carried out in June 2020.

As planned by the Ministry of Transport, after the Lunar New Year holiday, the 1B runway will continue to be closed for the construction of the remaining 800-meter section.

After the entire runway 1B is completed and put into service, the 1A runway will be closed in June for repairs and renovations to serve the 2022 Tet holiday.

On June 29, 2020, the Ministry of Transport broke ground on the projects to upgrade and repair some runways, build taxiways S3A, S5B and S6B, upgrade some existing taxiways, develop flight management service facilities and install lighting and signal systems from 2020 to 2021, with a total investment of over VND2 trillion.

After being upgraded, the Noi Bai International Airport will be able to handle the Airbus A350, Boeing 787-9 and 787-10 aircraft, contributing to fulfilling the target of 63 million passengers per year and two million tons of cargo a year by 2030, the local media reported.