Hanoi (VNA) – Van Don International Airport in the northernprovince of Quang Ninh has been named “Asia’s Leading New Airport 2019” at theWorld Travel Awards Asia & Oceania (WTA), becoming the first Vietnameseairport to be honoured with this prestigious award.

Glowing with pride, Director of Van Don International Airport Pham Ngoc Sausaid that the ward affirms prestige, position and high-quality services of theairport, while serving as motivation for the staff to continue improvingservices and bringing customers the best airport experience.

Van Don International Airport was developed tothe tune of 7.463 trillion VND (323 million USD) in total investment by SunGroup. Construction on the airport started in 2015 on 288 hectares inDoan Ket commune, Van Don district. It is thefirst airport in Vietnam to operate under the build-operate-transfer (BOT)model.

The airport was designed in line with theInternational Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) 4E standards. Sun Groupdeveloped Van Don International Airport with state of the art and modernequipment and technologies, all imported from the world's leading brands, toensure passengers have a world-class experience.

Equipped with seven aircraft parking lots, the airport is capable of operatinglarge aircraft including Boeing 787 and 777 models.

The aesthetic design of Van Don International Airport Terminal was inspired bythe wonderful natural beauty of the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay.Shaped like a sailing boat under a red orange domed roof, the airport takes itsdesign cues from local cultures and architectural traditions. Inside theterminal, the interior also celebrates the natural beauty of Ha Long Bay with astriking visual décor and provides travellers with ample green spaces.

The airport’s terminal is designed to have annualcapacity of 2-2.5 million passengers in the first phase, and is expected to increaseto five million by 2030. The airport is set to receive 500,000 passengerarrivals/departures in the first year of operation.

A cargo terminal is expected to be built by2030 with a capacity of at least 51,000 tonnes. 

On July 11, the 330-million-USD airportreceived the first aircraft landing on its runway as a test flight.

Theairport has been connected to Ho Chi Minh City in the south, the Republic ofKorea’s Seoul, and China’s Hunan and Shenzhen. In the coming time, more flightswill be operated between Van Don and China’s Hainan, Kunming, Nanning,Zhengzhou and Guangzhou, Japan and Thailand. Meanwhile, the domestic market isscheduled for expansion with flights from Da Nang and Phu Quoc to be added bythe end of the year.

Thanks to Van Don International Airport, more andmore domestic and international  tourists are now discovering that whengoing to Quang Ninh “one journey leads to thousands of destinations”. From theairport, there are free shuttle buses for guests to go to Ha Long city, andeasily access other popular destinations in Quang Ninh such as Yen Tu mountainpagoda, Tuan Chau island, Quan Lan island, Tra Co (Mong Cai) thanks to themajor modern highways and improved transportation links.

As of September 10, Van DonInternational Airport hosted a total of 1,364 flights transporting nearly183,000 domestic and foreign passengers, and 604,000 tonnes of cargo.

As Van Don district isamong the three special economic zones planned in Vietnam, the airport isexpected to boost the local economy, including tourism at Ha Long Bay. Theairport is located roughly 50km northeast of the world heritage site.  Last month, the South China Morning Postbased in Hong Kong listed the site as one of the most popular attractions inAsia. Ha Long Bay came fifth among the top most renowned Asian gems, which wastopped by the Great Wall of China./.