The Airport Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) on December 29 put into operation an expansion area of the T1 terminal of Noi Bai International Airport.

The area, covering 25,000sq.m, includes five exits and two entrances. It was constructed with a total investment of 500 billion VND (23.5 million USD) sourced from the ACV’s development capital.

Equipped with 38 check-in counters, four luggage-handling sites and two elevators, the broadened area is capable to serve 3 million passengers per year, contributing to easing the overload at the T1 terminal.

The construction of the T2 terminal is also underway at the airport. The project is expected to be completed in November 2014 and the terminal will be able to handle 10-15 million passengers per year by 2020.

After 2020, the Government will consider investment in the T3 and T4 terminals to raise Noi Bai Airport’s annual capacity to 50 million passengers.

On December 5, Noi Bai airport welcomed its 12 millionth passenger.

The airport has to date provided services for 36 domestic and international airlines from 30 countries and territories around the world.

It has seen an increase of 10 percent in an annual average number of flights and passenger arrivals over the past five years.

This year, the airport is expected to receive around 90,000 flights.

In 2012, the Vietnamese aviation sector received 310,000 flights carrying 37.5 million passengers and 650,000 tonnes of cargo.

At decision 21/QD-TTg dated January 8, 2009, the Prime Minister stated that Vietnam should have 26 airports by 2020, of which 10 would be international.-VNA