Cat Bi International Airport is located in

Hai Phong Haiphong or Hai Phong (, ) is the third-largest city in Vietnam and is the principal port city of the Red River Delta. The municipality has an area of , consisting of 8 urban districts, 6 rural districts and 1 municipal city (sub-city). Two ...

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

First Indochina War

During the war Cat Bi Air Base was used by

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

('), units based there included: *Group de Chasse 2/22 ''Languedoc'' equipped with the

F8F Bearcat The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engined, carrier-based fighter aircraft introduced in late World War II. It served during the mid-20th century in the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the air forces of other na ...

* Bomber Squadron 1/19 ''Gascogne'' equipped with the

B-26 Invader The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948 and 1965) is an American twin-engined light bomber and ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during several major Co ...

*Bomber Squadron 1/25 ''Tunisie'' equipped with the B-26 The base was also used by

French Naval Aviation French Naval Aviation (often abbreviated in French to: (contraction of ), or , or more simply ) is the naval air arm of the French Navy. The long-form official designation is . Born as a fusion of aircraft carrier squadrons and the naval pat ...

('), units based there included: * Flotille 28F equipped with the

PB4Y-2 Privateer The Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer is an American World War II and Korean War era patrol bomber of the United States Navy derived from the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The Navy had been using B-24s with only minor modifications as the PB4Y-1 Li ...

*the air groups of the ''Arromanches'' and ''Bois Belleau'' On 14 November 1953 the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

483d Troop Carrier Wing flew five C–119s from

Clark Air Base Clark Air Base is a Philippine Air Force base in Luzon, located west of Angeles City, and about northwest of Metro Manila. It was previously operated by the U.S. Air Force and, before that, the U.S. Army, from 1903 to 1991. The base cov ...

to Cat Bi to qualify French Air Force crews on them. In December 1953 in order to support C–119s, the USAF deployed to Cat Bi detachments of the 483d Troop Carrier Wing, the 8081st Aerial Resupply Unit and a provisional maintenance squadron of the Far East Air Logistics Force in what was known as Operation ''Cat Paw'' which had a peak strength in April 1954 of 121 men. On the night of 6/7 March 1954 the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a Communist Party of Vietnam, communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1 ...

attacked the base destroying 1 B-26 and 6 Morane-Saulnier MS.500 Criquets. On 9 March 1954 civilian pilots from the CIA-backed

Civil Air Transport Civil Air Transport (CAT) was a Nationalist Chinese airline, later owned by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), that supported the United States' covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia. During the Cold War, missions consi ...

(CAT) arrived at Cat Bi to begin flying C-119s, they began flying cargo missions on 12 March. Cat Bi-based CAT aircraft flew a total of 682 missions in support 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 ...

between 13 March and 6 May 1954. On 22 May 1954 the 483d Troop Carrier Wing maintenance detachment at Cat Bi relocated to Tourane Air Base.

Vietnam War

During the war, the base was used by the

Vietnam People's Air Force The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF; ), officially the Air Defence - Air Force Service (ADAF Service; ) or the Vietnam Air Force (), is the Aerial warfare, aerial, Anti-aircraft warfare, air and Space warfare, space defence service branch of ...

. On 9 January and 10 February 1968, United States jets attacked the base. On 26 August 1972, during

Operation Linebacker Operation Linebacker was the codename of a U.S. Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 air interdiction campaign conducted against North Vietnam from 9 May to 23 October 1972, during the Vietnam War. Its purpose was to halt or slow th ...

, U.S. Navy jets bombed the base. In early 1973 U.S.

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

aircraft flew into Cat Bi to deliver minesweeping equipment as part of Operation End Sweep.

Expansion

Vietnam has announced a new master plan to upgrade the airport with a 3,050-meter second runway, a new terminal, and a new apron by 2015. The existing runway will also be upgraded. After the expansion, the airport will be capable of serving up to 4–5 million passengers a year. The first phase of the project was completed in May 2016, giving this airport a capacity of 2 million passengers per year. The new terminal and new runway were opened on 12 May 2016. The airport can serve the

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified ...

Airbus A350 XWB The Airbus A350 is a flight length, long-range, wide-body twin-engine airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The initial A350 design proposed in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the Airbu ...

and similar aircraft.

Technical Specifications

* Current Airport Level: Rated as a 4E airport per ICAO standards. * Current Firefighting Level: Rated at level 6 by ICAO. * Runway Length: 3,050 meters, equipped for night flights. * Runway Width: Main runway is 45 meters wide. * Taxiway Size: Main taxiway measures 2,400 x 23 meters. * Runway Structure: Cement concrete and asphalt. * Aircraft Stands: 10 positions for Airbus A320-321. * Capacity: 1,000 passengers per peak hour, serving 2-4 million passengers annually. * Passenger Terminal: 15,630m² area with two levels and 29 check-in counters (domestic: counters 1-16; international: counters 17-29). * Boarding Gates: 6 gates (2 with jet bridges, 4 by bus). * Baggage Carousels: 3 (2 for domestic, 1 for international). * Aircraft Capacity: Can accommodate large aircraft like Boeing 777, 767, 787, 737-400, and Airbus models A330, A350, A320-321, among others. * Navigation and Landing Aids: Equipped with ILS CAT II, VOR/DME systems.

Air Traffic Control Tower

Construction began on December 11, 2014, and the tower became operational on January 6, 2016. Funded by the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation with an investment of 80 billion VND, the project aimed to build a 42.9-meter-high control tower with modern, synchronized facilities. It can manage 30 takeoff and landing operations per hour, reducing cloud ceiling requirements from 180m to 80m and visibility from 2,800m to 800m, ensuring continuous flight operations at the airport.

Statistics

Airlines and destinations

Notes

* Cat Bi International Airport became an international airport from 00:01 of 11 May 2016. * Ready for new international flight to Guangzhou, China at the end of April

References

External links

French military images of Cat Bi supporting the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
{{authority control Airports in Vietnam Buildings and structures in Haiphong