The Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) and the People’s Committee ofcentral Nghe An province have inaugurated a lotus-shaped terminal ofVinh Airport, which is capable of serving 3 million passengers per yearand 1,000 ones at rush hour.

Present at the January31 inauguration ceremony were National Assembly Chairman Nguyen SinhHung and Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, among others.

The construction of the two-storey terminal began in April 2013. Thefacility covers a total area of 11,706 square meters, including 28check-in desks.

On the occasion, local authoritiesand the ACV announced the scheme to upgrade Vinh Airport into aninternational one, including a project expanding airport apron and carparking lots, worth around 1.2 trillion VND (57.12 million USD).

The operation of the key projects is expected to ease the overload atthe airport and ensure security and safety for passengers, thuscontributing to the socio-economic development of the province and thenorth-central region.

Deputy Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc hailed the local efforts to ensure the progress of theprojects and called for more investment to upgrade Vinh Airport tointernational standards as soon as possible.

Thesame day, the low-cost carrier Vietjet Air hosted a ceremony to welcomeits 10 millionth passenger at Vinh Airport.

In proximity to National Highway 1A, the north-south railwaysystem, Cua Lo port and border gates bordering Laos , Vinh Airporthas become more crucial to the regional economic growth.

Last year, the airport welcomed around 1.25 million passengers. It hasrecorded an average growth of nearly 44 percent over the past 13 years,the highest rate in the country.-VNA