New Hanoi airport to open

New Hanoi airport to open

HANOI (AP): Hanoi's long-awaited new international airport terminal is scheduled to open in April, six years after construction started, an airport official said Tuesday.

The first phase of the US$76 million Terminal One will go through a test-run in mid-March before the officially opening, said an official with the Northern Airports Authority requesting anonymity. A date for the formal opening will be announced later.

Construction of the Terminal One began in late 1995 and was supposed to be completed by fall 1997 in time for a Francophonie summit.

However, the opening was delayed after the terminal was redesigned to accommodate six million passengers per year, a target that will be achieved only after the second phase construction is completed, likely by 2005, the official said.

Hanoi's existing airport, Noi Bai International, handles about two million passengers annually.