Phu Cat Airport Explained

Phu Cat Airport
Nativename:Vietnamese: Sân bay Phù Cát
Iata:UIH
Icao:VVPC
Type:Public / Military
Operator:Middle Airport Authority
City-Served:Quy Nhơn
Location:Phù Cát
Elevation-M:24
Metric-Elev:yes
Coordinates:13.955°N 109.0422°W
Pushpin Map:Vietnam
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of airport in Vietnam
Pushpin Label:UIH/VVPC
Pushpin Label Position:top
R1-Number:15/33
R1-Length-M:3,051
R1-Surface:Concrete
Metric-Rwy:yes
Stat1-Header:Total passengers
Stat1-Data:630,935[1]
Stat2-Header:Aircraft movements
Stat2-Data:4,346
Stat-Year:2015
Footnotes:Sources: GCM, STV

Phu Cat Airport is an airport serving Quy Nhơn, Vietnam. It is in Phù Cát district between the towns of Ngo May and Đập Đá, around 30km (20miles) northwest of Qui Nhơn within Bình Định province along the South Central Coast of Vietnam.

As well as being a commercial airport, Phu Cat is also used by the Vietnam People's Air Force, being home to the nation's sole squadrons of Sukhoi Su-27 and Yakovlev Yak-130.

Phu Cat Airport is the registered hub serving Bamboo Airways. Phu Cat Airport handled 1.5 million passengers in 2017.[2]

History

Phù Cát Airport was built in 1967 during the Vietnam War for the United States Air Force (USAF) by the American construction company RMK-BRJ. During the war, it was a major air base for the Republic of Vietnam Air Force and USAF. Until 1975, the airport was known as Gò Quánh Airport. The airport was one of the major sites for Agent Orange recharge besides Bien Hoa Air Base and Da Nang Air Base. Due to heavy activities involving dioxin during the war, the ground at the airport was polluted with toxic chemicals and cleanup efforts are still ongoing. After 1975, it was used for training purpose by the Vietnamese Air Force and subsequently developed into a mixed-use airport for both regional civic air transport and military activities in 1984 following the suspension of civic service at nearby Qui Nhơn Airfield. In September 1984, the airport served its first commercial flight.[3]

On July 10, 2003, construction on a new passenger terminal for the airport started. The terminal was completed in June 2004. It has a capacity of 600,000 passengers per year with 2 airplane gates, 6 check-in counters and 2 conveyor belts.[3] The airport handled 420,000 passengers in 2014 and held an average 46% annual growth in passengers. The airport served 1.5 million passengers in 2017.

On February 13, 2017, works started on the site of a new passenger terminal for Phu Cat Airport. This terminal, built on a cost of US$22 million, would have a capacity of 1.5 million passengers per year with room for expansion up to 2.4 million. The new terminal opened on May 3, 2018 and completely replaced the 2003-built terminal.[4]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Trí Dũng . Bình Định đề xuất xây Nhà ga hành khách sân bay Phù Cát . Thời báo Tài chính Việt Nam . 2 September 2018.
  2. Web site: Chỉ bù lỗ sân bay ít khách. 30 November 2017. Nguoi lao dong. 2019-05-10. vi.
  3. Web site: Giới thiệu . Cảng hàng không Phù Cát . 6 June 2018 . vi . https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141152/http://phucatairport.vn/Chuyen-Muc/Gioi-thieu/1 . 12 June 2018 . dead .
  4. Web site: Đưa vào khai thác Nhà ga hành khách Cảng hàng không Phù Cát . Airports Corporation of Vietnam . 7 June 2018.