Immediately after the official announcement that Vinh International Airport (Nghe An) will temporarily suspend all operations from July 1 until the end of 2025 to serve the repair and upgrade of infrastructure was announced, many passengers who had purchased air tickets to travel during this period were worried. The concern about the difficulty of changing and refunding tickets has become the top concern of many people in Nghe An, Ha Tinh and neighboring provinces.
In response to passenger concerns, major airlines such as Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet have quickly spoken up, announcing specific support policies. Although the goal is to minimize inconvenience to customers, each airline's support methods are somewhat different, depending on ticket conditions and specific regulations.
Before temporarily ceasing operations for 6 months to renovate the runway, terminal and parking lot, Vinh airport welcomed 15-20 flights per day, serving about 2 million passengers per year.
Specifically, on June 24, Vietnam Airlines officially announced the suspension of all flights to and from Vinh airport during the closure and upgrade period. To ensure that passengers' travel needs are not interrupted, the national airline will increase the frequency of flights to neighboring airports such as Tho Xuan (Thanh Hoa), Noi Bai (Hanoi) and Dong Hoi (Quang Binh).
Vinh Airport in Nghi Lien Commune, Vinh City, formerly served the war. From 1937 to 1994, the State invested more than 20 billion VND to build, upgrade, and repair runways, terminals, taxiways, and parking lots to increase service capacity.
In particular, passengers with tickets during the affected period will be supported to change their itinerary to another flight within the same network of the airline, or have their tickets refunded if they no longer need to travel. Vietnam Airlines also recommends that passengers regularly update information on the airline's official channels and proactively adjust their travel plans. At the same time, the airline is also closely coordinating with functional units to closely monitor the construction progress, ready to resume operations as soon as the airport is qualified for operation, especially during the peak period at the end of the year.
Vinh airport runway is 2,400 m long, 45 m wide, with asphalt concrete surface, put into use at the end of 2003. In July 2023, the airport stopped operating for nearly 16 hours due to runway damage.
Similarly, Vietjet also affirmed that it will flexibly transfer flights or reserve tickets for passengers with flights related to Vinh airport. Specifically, passengers can choose one of three options: free transfer to another flight on the same itinerary but departing before July 1, 2025; change to flights to closer airports such as Thanh Hoa, Hanoi or Dong Hoi; or request a ticket refund and reserve identification according to the airline's policy.
In this repair project, the runway is the item with the largest investment capital - more than 623 billion VND. The existing runway will be extended to 3,000 m, meeting the needs of wide-body aircraft.
In addition, Vietjet also plans to increase the frequency of flights to nearby airports to meet the increasing travel demand of people, especially during the peak summer tourist season. The airline encourages passengers to proactively contact the call center, ticket office, official agent or service counter at the airport for the earliest support.
According to the detailed plan of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the project to repair and renovate Vinh airport infrastructure in 2025 includes 3 main items with a total investment of up to nearly 1,000 billion VND. Of which, the project to renovate the existing T1 passenger terminal has a total investment of 68.36 billion VND, expected to increase the operating capacity from 3 - 3.5 million passengers/year by 2030. More importantly, the project to repair the existing runway, 2,400m long, 45m wide, with two taxiways and brake strips, safety strips, with a total investment of more than 623 billion VND, promises to bring a more modern and safer aviation infrastructure.
The temporary closure of Vinh airport for 6 months will certainly cause a lot of disruption for passengers, especially residents in Nghe An, Ha Tinh and neighboring provinces. During this period, passengers can consider choosing to fly from alternative airports such as Tho Xuan (Thanh Hoa), about 100 km from Vinh city, or Dong Hoi (Quang Binh), more than 200 km away.
Despite facing short-term inconveniences, the investment in upgrading Vinh airport is expected to bring long-term benefits, increase operating capacity, improve service quality and create momentum for strong development of the aviation industry in the North Central region in the future. To be proactive in their journeys, airlines recommend passengers to regularly check flight information via the airline's official website or application; contact early to change or refund tickets to avoid last-minute overload; carefully consider the road travel time to the alternative airport and book tickets early to get the most reasonable price.
