Transport Minister Dinh La Thang has backed a plan to build a new terminal for Danang International Airport as capacity nears its limit.
If the plan is approved, the construction of new international terminal can start this December or January. The new terminal, which will cover 44,000 square metres and cost VND3.2trn (USD152m), is expected to serve four million passengers a year.
Visitor numbers to Danang have been rising at an annual growth of 14 percent, arrivals in 2014 reaching five million, up 16 percent on a year earlier, with 900,000 foreign visitors, up 53 percent on 2013.
"From 2015, the current international terminal can only serve 6-8 million passengers a year. At this growth rate, the terminal will be overloaded in the next few years," said Le Manh Hung, head of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam.
Thang said a new terminal could be opened in June 2017.