Dien Bien Airport is located at

Điện Biên Phủ Điện Biên Phủ (, vi-hantu, ) is a city in the Northwest (Vietnam), northwestern region of Vietnam. It is the capital of Điện Biên Province. The city is best known for the decisive Battle of Dien Bien Phu, Battle of Điện Biên Phủ ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

History

Điện Biên Phủ Airport was established in 1954 as Mường Thanh Airfield. The main purpose of it is to serve the French HQ in Điện Biên Phủ at the time of the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

. 4 years after the French left Điện Biên Phủ, in 1958, commercial flights to the airport started, operated by the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

, but only for a while due to the low demand at the time. In 1984, along with the 30th Anniversary of the

Battle of Dien Bien Phu The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ was a climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War that took place between 13 March and 7 May 1954. It was fought between the forces of the French Union and Viet Minh. The French began an operation to in ...

, flights from

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

to Điện Biên Phủ resumed, operated by the

Antonov An-24 The Antonov An-24 (Russian/ Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) (NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by the Kyiv ...

. 10 months later, in January 30, 1995, this route is once again suspended because of the runway needed to be repaired. After the repair, flight resumed, this time being operated by the

ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR. The number "72" in its name is derived from the aircraft's typical standard seating capacity of 72 pa ...

. In 2004, the airport's apron is extended to 12000 square meters, with 4 parking stands for ATR 72 aircraft.

Facilities

Today, Điện Biên Phủ Airport is the largest and only commercial airport serving the city of

in particular and the entire Northwest region of Vietnam, after the closure of

Nà Sản Airport The Nà Sản Airport () is an airport in Mai Sơn District, Sơn La Province, Vietnam. Currently, there are no scheduled services to Nà Sản. History First Indochina War (1946 – 1954) Nà Sản Airport was built in 1950 by the French as par ...

in 2004. It is located in the middle of a basin at an altitude of 1.611 meters above sea level. The apron and taxiway is 7500 square meters wide, with 4 parking stands for aircraft. The terminal is 2500 square meters wide and is capable of serving 4 flights per day. In 2023, the airport was upgraded with a new × runway and associated facilities to make it compatible with bigger-sized narrow-body airliners such as the

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

/ A321 and

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

Expansion

Dien Bien province People's Committee has approved the temporary closure of the airport following an expansion proposal by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. The closure will start from 1 April 2023 and lasts 6 months. The expansion includes building a new security fences, upgrading terminal's facilities and the lengthening and widening of the runway. The runway will be extended to 2400 m (7874 ft) and widened to 45 m, enabling the airport to accommodate A320/A321 or equivalent aircraft. The terminal will be upgraded to receive up to 500 thousand passengers per year. On 30 November 2023, the expansion project was completed and the airport resumed all operations on 2 December. The project cost is estimated to be around VND 1.467 trillion (US$ 62 million), all paid for by ACV.

Airlines and destinations

Gallery

File:Dien Bien Phu Airport aux1.JPG File:Dien Bien Phu Airport aux2.JPG File:Dien Bien Phu Airport aux3.JPG

References

External links

Airports in Vietnam Dien Bien Phu Buildings and structures in Điện Biên province {{Vietnam-airport-stub