Vietnam to build airport in northern highlands Sa Pa resort town

Located 80 kilometers away from the mountain resort town of Sa Pa, the domestic airport will have nine aircraft parking slots, and will be used for both civilian and military purposes.

Sa Pa airport is designed to accommodate aircraft such as Airbus A320, A321 and equivalent or less with 9 parking positions instead of 5 as planned in 2016.

A six-lane road will be built to connect the 371 hectare airport with the existing Hanoi - Lao Cai Expressway.

The central government’s proposed contribution would amount to 52 percent of the airport’s total investment, which is estimated at $254 million. The province had proposed that construction of the airport begins this year and be completed in 2021.

Under plan approved in 2016, Sa Pa Airport’s location was in Bao Yen district, Lao Cai province. It was designed to transport 560,000 passengers in 2020 and 1,585 million passengers in 2030.

When built, Sa Pa Airport will become the 23rd airport in Vietnam, 10 of which operate international flights.

Lao Cai welcomed 4.2 million visitors last year, up 20 percent from 2017. 720,000 of them were international tourists.

In previous years, a large number of tourists traveled to Sa Pa by train from Hanoi to Lao Cai.

The number reduced since the $1.5-billion Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway was opened in September 2014, with many visitors preferring the five-hour bus ride to an eight-hour overnight trip on the train.