Sa Pa airport, a push for tourism development

The construction of Sa Pa Airport is a long-standing dream and aspiration of Lao Cai province and also the desire of the ethnic people of Lao Cai province. The completed project will be a major breakthrough in the development of transport infrastructure in Lao Cai province and the Northern Midlands and Mountains region, a strong driving force to accelerate socio-economic and tourism development and local services, creating jobs and improving people's lives. Phase 1 of the project (implemented from 2021) will focus on building Sa Pa Airport to meet 4C airport standards according to the classification of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and become an airport military level II, capacity of 1.5 million passengers/year. Phase 2 (completed, implemented after 2028) will complete the project's items so that the airport can reach a capacity of 3 million passengers/year. Sa Pa airport's construction investment will turn Lao Cai into a locality with all 4 types of traffic connected directly to the Chinese market; create conditions for Lao Cai and other provinces in the region to develop comprehensively in many fields. Including the construction of a measuring runway 2,400m x 45m, two sidewalks 7.5m wide on each side. The large airport ensures 6 parking positions for A321/A320 aircraft or equivalent. The airport will be equipped with a complete and synchronized lighting system, apron lights, taxiways, and runways. The airport fence system is about 12,000m long; The service road system is about 8 km long and 6m wide; navigation and meteorological signal systems; 43.1m high command post and other synchronous equipment system. Project component 2 is to build a passenger terminal 1 at high altitude, to accommodate up to 1.5 million passengers/year, 600 passengers/peak hour. The project also aims to build an intersection at a different level from the Hanoi - Lao Cai expressway; The road to the port is about 1.66km long, including 2 lanes, the section from the toll station to the highway has a road surface width of 7m, roadbed 14m; The section from the toll station to the civil aviation area has a road surface width of 6m and road base of 9m. The project has an operating period of 50 years (expected construction period: 3 years and 7 months, operation, exploitation and capital recovery period is 46 years and 2 months); Project contract type is BOT The total project investment amounted to more than 3.65 trillion VND, of which equity and loan capital was nearly 3 trillion VND; State capital in the PPP project is more than 661 billion VND. Lao Cai province prioritizes all resources for synchronous infrastructure development, with priority given to building Sa Pa Airport in the direction of an airport urban area while developing railways connecting Lao Cai with other regions. According to the plan approved by the Prime Minister, Lao Cai province will build many new routes, including routes connecting Sa Pa airport with Sa Pa town center and Laos Border Gate Economic Zone. While waiting for Sa Pa airport to come into operation, if you want to go to Sa Pa, Lao Cai by plane, go to Noi Bai airport. Noi Bai International Airport is located in Soc Son district, Hanoi city, about 300km from Sa Pa town center. Noi Bai Airport (Hanoi) is one of the two largest airports in the country, so buying plane tickets here is quite easy. You can buy tickets from big cities like Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City or other local airports like Vinh, Thanh Hoa, Can Tho... from all domestic airlines Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Jetstar, Bamboo Airways... Ticket prices depend on class, airline and departure time. From Noi Bai airport to Sapa is not too far, you can call a long-distance taxi, or combine a taxi or bus. Taxi price from Noi Bai airport to Sa Pa is about 3,000,000 VND for a 4-5-seat car, and 3,700,000 VND for a 7-seat car. Travel time is about 4-5 hours.

In the introduction, the famous travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler wrote about the place they ranked 41/50: "Far from Vietnam's famous beach resorts, big cities and world heritage sites", Sa Pa is a relatively quiet mountain town located in Lao Cai province, northwest of Vietnam.

Q. Lien