Phu Cat airport to welcome first international flight

Binh Dinh (VNA) - Phu Cat airport in Quy Nhon city, the south central province of Binh Dinh, is scheduled to welcome the first international flight by the end of December this year.

The information was announced by Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Ho Quoc Dung at a working session with agencies and domestic carriers on November 21.

Representative of the Vietnam Airport Corporation said the old terminal of Phu Cat airport had been repaired and converted into an international terminal (T2), with an area of about 3,000sq.m, including two floors with a capacity of 600,000 passengers a year.

The repairs and preparations are almost complete.

Under the plan, T2 terminal will be put into trial operation on December 5 and will be fully operational on December 15. It will then welcome the first international flight to the airport.

Tran Van Trien, Director of Phu Cat airport, said there were four domestic carriers including Vietnam Airlines; VietJet Air; Jetstar Pacific Airlines and Bamboo Airways operating 30-40 flights per day to and from the city.

In the first ten months of 2019, the airport served nearly 1.36 million tourists. In 2018, it welcomed 1.12 million tourists.

At the meeting, Truong Phuong Thanh, Deputy General Director of Bamboo Airways, said the number of tourists from the Republic of Korea, Japan and China visiting Quy Nhon city increased day by day.

Bamboo Airways has worked with these partners and agreed to open direct flights to Binh Dinh province.

It is expected that by the end of December, Bamboo Airways will have the first international flight from Incheon, the RoK to Phu Cat airport and vice versa.

A representative of Vietnam Airlines said the airline expects to open the first international flight to the airport in March 2020.

Chairman Dung said the number of tourists coming to Binh Dinh has increased by 15-20 percent in recent years.

In 2018, the province welcomed more than four million tourists. Of which, over 290,000 are international tourists.

In the first nine months this year, it welcomed over 4.12 million tourists, including 310,730 foreigners, an increase of nearly 20 percent over the same period last year.

In 2020, the province is expected to attract 5.5 million tourists.

Chairman assigned agencies and carriers to complete the procedures and licences to open international flights to the airport.

Phu Cat airport has also signed a regulation on coordination with border police force, customs and health departments in operating and controlling international flights./.