Dien Bien Airport: From a fierce airport to a modern airport after 70 years

TPO - Dien Bien Airport was originally a field airport called Muong Thanh Airport built by the French army. After 70 years of history, the airport has become a modern airport in the North.

Dien Bien Airport was formerly a field airport called Muong Thanh Airport. Before 1954, the French army built this airport to supply food and weapons to the Dien Bien Phu stronghold. (Photo: Dien Bien Province).

Muong Thanh Airport is considered the throat of the Dien Bien Phu stronghold. Every day, at this military airport, there are dozens of transport planes (C119) from Cat Bi airport (Hai Phong), Gia Lam (Hanoi) landing to supply troops, food and weapons to the French expeditionary army. The mission of our army at that time was to cut off the "air bridge", the only supply route, to push the French army into isolation. (Photo: Dien Bien Province).

According to published documents, to attack Muong Thanh airport, our Dien Bien Phu Campaign Command sent 5 units: Divisions 312, 308, 316, 304 and 351 to participate. Of which, Division 312 was the main unit. In the photo are our soldiers attacking Muong Thanh airport.

Image of our army controlling Muong Thanh airport, blocking the supply and reinforcement route of the French army.

With the stormy attack of our army, the enemy could not resist. On the afternoon of April 22, 1954, our army controlled Muong Thanh airport until the liberation of Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954. In the photo: Our army soldiers rejoice on a French plane that had just been shot down by 37mm anti-aircraft artillery.

After the Dien Bien Phu victory in 1954, Dien Bien airport was taken over by the Vietnamese army. In 1958, civil aviation services were officially opened and were operated by the army. After the liberation of the North, Dien Bien airport was still maintained but was hardly used for exploitation.

In 1973, in preparation for the 20th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory, Dien Bien airport was restored. Since then, this airport has been gradually upgraded, completed and rebuilt into one of the most modern airports in the North.

Currently, the passenger terminal of Dien Bien airport is designed with 2 floors with modern and harmonious architectural lines. In which, the first floor includes the lobby roof area, the departure passenger area and the arrival passenger area. The second floor is the waiting area, business class lounge, commercial service area and auxiliary areas for exploitation.

Dien Bien airport has two airlines operating, Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air, the number of passengers passing through the airport has grown strongly.

Every day, the port has 3-4 flights of Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City to Dien Bien and vice versa. The number of passengers passing through the port has reached nearly 1000 passengers/day compared to the previous passenger output of more than 200 passengers/day, in which domestic and international passengers increased evenly.

Dien Bien Airport has an aircraft parking lot with 4 parking positions, of which 3 parking positions are for A320/A321 aircraft or equivalent and 1 parking position is for ATR72 aircraft or equivalent or smaller.

The Dien Bien airport expansion investment project has built runway 35-17 measuring 2,400mx45m, 2-end turntables, cement concrete structure ensuring the operation of A320/A321 aircraft or equivalent.

The Dien Bien Airport Air Traffic Control Tower Project is one of the key projects along with the expansion and upgrading of Dien Bien Airport, with a total investment of more than 93 billion VND invested by the development investment capital of the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (Ministry of Transport).

The project started on April 27, 2023. According to plan, the Dien Bien airport air traffic control tower will be inaugurated today (April 20).

Auxiliary lighting system supports aircraft landing and take-off, and ground movement in night and day conditions with bad weather and limited visibility. The airport is equipped with a lighting system that meets CAT I standards according to the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

A series of buses transport passengers from the terminal to the aircraft parking area 400m away.

Modern fire trucks are invested.

From a field airport of the French army, today, Dien Bien airport has become a modern airport of the North. Dien Bien airport is considered an important milestone in the Vietnam aviation industry, as well as opening up opportunities and creating new development momentum for the economy and society of Dien Bien province as well as the Northwest region. Up to now, Dien Bien is the only province with an airport among the 6 provinces in the Northwest region of our country.

Tienphong.vn