The construction site where a runway in Noi Bai International Airport
is being fixed, July 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy. 

The Transport Ministry has requested Hanoi to put on hold projects it had approved in the area where Noi Bai International Airport will be expanded. 

Representatives from the ministry said Thursday the request was made to avoid investment waste and facilitate the planning of Noi Bai International Airport until 2030 and with a vision towards 2050.

Projects it asked Hanoi to suspend include construction at the airport's ALS Cargo Terminal, hotels and other commercial services.

Noi Bai airport is undergoing scale adjustments as the number of passengers has surged past its designed capacity.

The number of passengers and cargo passing through Noi Bai Airport has been increasing by an average of 10 percent per year, with the airport receiving nearly 26 million travelers in 2018 and about 29 million last year.

However, the airport is only designed to handle 25 million passengers per year, with domestic terminal T1 having a capacity of 15 million and international terminal T2 servicing the remaining 10 million per annum.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) said last weekend it had submitted to the transport ministry a plan to build two new runways and passenger terminals at the facility.

CAAV envisions Noi Bai as a joint-use airport with ICAO Aerodrome Reference Code 4F, which would allow it to cater to the largest aircraft in the world, including the B777-X, B747-8, B777-300ER, and A380.

By 2030, the airport will have an estimated capacity of 63 million passengers and two million tons of cargo per year. To meet this need, the CAAV has proposed building a third runway that lies 2,200 m (7,200 feet) away from the existing runway 1B.

The airport's existing terminal T2 would be expanded to reach a capacity of 30-40 million passengers per year, and a new terminal T3 with a capacity of 30 million per annum would be built to the south.

By 2050, the CAAV estimates the airport would serve 100 million passengers and handle five million tons of cargo each year.

Therefore, the airport's infrastructure would be adjusted to include a fourth runway to the south as well as terminal T4 with an annual capacity of 25 million passengers at the site of the current terminal T1 and a new terminal T5 with a capacity of 25 million, in case demand increases.