Phu Bai International Airport is the international gateway to the city of Hue in Thua Thien-Hue Province, Vietnam. Located approximately 13km away from the city of Hue, the airport is operated by the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV).
The airport was originally built for domestic flights in 1940, while commercial operations began in March 1976. It received international status in August 2007.
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The airport welcomed 1.75 million passengers in 2017, a 15% increase compared to the previous year. It is anticipated to receive up to 3.5 million passengers a year by 2020 and up to seven million by 2025.
A VND12.57tn ($718m) masterplan for the airport expansion was approved by the Government of Vietnam in July 2009. It includes construction of a new passenger terminal to meet growing passenger traffic and enhance the country’s tourism industry.
The masterplan also outlines the construction of a cargo terminal with a 200,000t annual cargo capacity and a new runway, as well as an upgrade of the existing runway.
Details of T1 at Phu Bai International Airport
The current passenger Terminal 1 (T1) at Phu Bai International Airport is a two-level building with a floor area of 6,539m². Level 1 of the terminal is dedicated to domestic and international arrivals and departures, while Level 2 features a VIP lounge, business class lounge, food court, refreshment areas, and souvenir shops.
T1 was upgraded with an investment of approximately $30m in 2013 to enhance passenger comfort and safety. The upgrades increased annual passenger capacity from 1.2 million to 1.5 million and the peak hourly passenger handling capacity from 600 to 800.
Equipment installed in T1 includes two baggage conveyors, information displays, and security screening, as well as communication, aviation procedure, and radio systems.
T1 has three gates that provide access to the aircraft.
Construction of new passenger terminal T2
Airports Corporation of Vietnam announced the development of a second passenger terminal (T2) at the airport with an investment of VND1.7tn ($74m) in July 2018. Construction is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2019 and will last for 18 months. T2 is scheduled to be opened to passengers by December 2020.
The expansion is being carried out by the airport operator in co-operation with the People’s Committee of Thua Thien-Hue Province.
The new terminal will cover a total area of approximately 16,500m² and will have two separate arrival and departure halls. It will be able to handle five million passengers a year.
Runways, aprons and taxiways at Phu Bai International Airport
The Phu Bai International Airport was originally built with a single 1,280m-long and 40m-wide 09/27 runway. The length of the runway was expanded to 1,800m in 1940s. In 2013, the runway was further expanded to a length of 2,700m and width of 45m to support the take-off and landing of large-sized aircraft such as Airbus A320 and Airbus A321.
A second runway is planned to be built to accommodate aircraft such as Boeing 767 and Boeing 777-200LR in the future.
The airport has one partial parallel taxiway with exit taxiways on the south side of the runway.
The 298m-long and 103.5m-wide apron covers an area of 62,125m². It was originally built to accommodate six aircraft and was expanded with two additional aircraft parking spaces in 2016.
Three more new aprons and parallel taxiways are planned to be built to meet future demands
