Noi Bai Airport aims to become a "mega-airport".

Recently, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam submitted its latest report to the Ministry of Transport on the adjustment of the Noi Bai International Airport master plan for the period up to 2030, with a vision to 2050. According to the report, ADPi – a French airport architecture and engineering consulting firm belonging to the Aéroports de Paris Group – has essentially completed its final report on the master plan for Vietnam's most important airport, based on extensive research and thorough discussions.

Currently, Noi Bai International Airport is planned as a dual-use civil-military airport, classified as Level 4F according to ICAO regulations, capable of handling the largest aircraft currently in operation such as the B777-X, B747-8, B777-300ER, and A380. By 2030, Noi Bai Airport could reach a capacity of 63 million passengers per year and 2 million tons of cargo per year. By 2050, these figures are expected to increase to 100 million passengers and 5 million tons of cargo.

By 2030, Noi Bai Airport will have 3 runways with 3 passenger terminals. The existing Terminal 2 will be further expanded to achieve a combined capacity of 30-40 million passengers per year for both Terminals 1 and 2. A new Terminal 3 will be built in the south with a capacity of approximately 30 million passengers per year.

Between 2030 and 2050, one of the country's two largest airports will have four runways. The fourth runway will be newly constructed in the south. During this period, Noi Bai will continue to build a new passenger terminal (T4) with a capacity of 25 million passengers per year at the location of the existing T1 terminal and build a new T5 terminal with a capacity of approximately 25 million passengers per year when needed.

According to leaders of Noi Bai International Airport, from 2015 to the present, the volume of passengers, cargo, and aircraft taking off and landing at Noi Bai has increased very rapidly, averaging over 10% per year, putting enormous pressure on the airport's infrastructure.

Currently, the project to expand Noi Bai's T2 passenger terminal has been launched to increase its capacity by an additional 5 million passengers, but this will only bring Noi Bai's total capacity to 30 million passengers per year.

Minh Chi