The central province recently requested Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s approval for its proposal, arguing that the Thanh Son Military Airport is only using one of two runways capable of receiving narrow-body aircraft such as the Airbus A321 or equivalent.

The airport, which covers an area of 20 square kilometers, meets adequate flight safety standards and is capable of handling flights to and from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, the provincial People's Committee said in its request.

Since last year, Ninh Thuan has become a renewable power hotspot in the country. The province estimates it could receive 2.5 million visitors this year, including many foreign experts working for power projects.

According to a government-approved plan in 2018, there is no commercial airport approved in Ninh Thuan by 2030.

Another central province, Ha Tinh, recently proposed an international airport while the capital city of Hanoi has also mooted a second one.

Vietnam, with 22 airports, generally saw demand for air travel rise before the Covid-19 outbreak, with its airports handling 116 million passengers last year, up 12 percent from 2018, according to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV).