Cat Bi International Airport

Cat Bi International Airport (IATA: HPH, ICAO: VVCI) is located in Hai Phong, Vietnam.

Cat Bi International Airport Sân bay Quốc tế Cát Bi Cảng hàng không quốc tế Cát Bi[1]
IATA: HPH ICAO: VVCI
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Northern Airports Services Company
Serves	Hai Phong & Ha Long
Location	Hai Phong, Vietnam
Operating base for	VietJet Air
Elevation AMSL	4 m / 13 ft
Coordinates	20°49′09″N 106°43′29″E
Website	www.catbiinternational.com
Map
HPH/VVCI Location of airport in Vietnam
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 07/25 3,050 10,007 Asphalt
Statistics (2018)
Total passenger 2,737,700 Aircraft movements 14,374 Airfreight (tonnes) 17,128
Hai Phong Portal[2]

History

First Indochina War

During the war Cat Bi Air Base was used by French Air Force (Armée de l'air), units based there included:

• Group de Chasse 2/22 Languedoc equipped with the F8F Bearcat
• Bomber Squadron 1/19 Gascogne equipped with the B-26 Invader
• Bomber Squadron 1/25 Tunisie equipped with the B-26

The base was also used by French Naval Aviation (Aéronavale), units based there included:

• Flotille 28F equipped with the PB4Y-2 Privateer^[3]
• the air groups of the Arromanches and Bois Belleau

On 14 November 1953 the United States Air Force 483d Troop Carrier Wing flew five C–119s from Clark Air Base to Cat Bi to qualify French Air Force crews on them.^[4]: 83 In December 1953 in order to support C–119s, the USAF deployed to Cat Bi detachments of the 483d Troop Carrier Wing, the 8081st Aerial Resupply Unit and a provisional maintenance squadron of the Far East Air Logistics Force in what was known as Operation Cat Paw which had a peak strength in April 1954 of 121 men.^[4]: 87

On the night of 6/7 March 1954 the Viet Minh attacked the base destroying 1 B-26 and 6 Morane-Saulnier MS.500 Criquets.^[5]

On 9 March 1954 civilian pilots from the CIA-backed Civil Air Transport (CAT) arrived at Cat Bi to begin flying C-119s, they began flying cargo missions on 12 March.^[4]: 110 Cat Bi-based CAT aircraft flew a total of 682 missions in support of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu between 13 March and 6 May 1954.^[6]

On 22 May 1954 the 483d Troop Carrier Wing maintenance detachment at Cat Bi relocated to Tourane Air Base.^[4]: 149

Vietnam War

During the war, the base was used by the Vietnam People's Air Force. On 9 January and 10 February 1968, United States jets attacked the base.^[7]

On 26 August 1972, during Operation Linebacker, U.S. Navy jets bombed the base.^[8]

In early 1973 U.S. C-130 aircraft flew into Cat Bi to deliver minesweeping equipment as part of Operation End Sweep.^[9]

Expansion

Vietnam has announced a new master plan to upgrade the airport with a 3,050-meter second runway, a new terminal, and a new apron by 2015. The existing runway will also be upgraded. After the expansion, the airport will be capable of serving up to 4–5 million passengers a year.^[10]

The first phase of the project was completed in May 2016, giving this airport a capacity of 2 million passengers per year. The new terminal and new runway were opened on 12 May 2016. The airport can serve the Boeing 767, Airbus A350 XWB and similar aircraft.

Technical Specifications

• Current Airport Level: Rated as a 4E airport per ICAO standards.
• Current Firefighting Level: Rated at level 6 by ICAO.
• Runway Length: 3,050 meters, equipped for night flights.
• Runway Width: Main runway is 45 meters wide.
• Taxiway Size: Main taxiway measures 2,400 x 23 meters.
• Runway Structure: Cement concrete and asphalt.
• Aircraft Stands: 10 positions for Airbus A320-321.
• Capacity: 1,000 passengers per peak hour, serving 2-4 million passengers annually.
• Passenger Terminal: 15,630m² area with two levels and 29 check-in counters (domestic: counters 1-16; international: counters 17-29).
• Boarding Gates: 6 gates (2 with jet bridges, 4 by bus).
• Baggage Carousels: 3 (2 for domestic, 1 for international).
• Aircraft Capacity: Can accommodate large aircraft like Boeing 777, 767, 787, 737-400, and Airbus models A330, A350, A320-321, among others.
• Navigation and Landing Aids: Equipped with ILS CAT II, VOR/DME systems.

Air Traffic Control Tower

Construction began on December 11, 2014, and the tower became operational on January 6, 2016. Funded by the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation with an investment of 80 billion VND, the project aimed to build a 42.9-meter-high control tower with modern, synchronized facilities. It can manage 30 takeoff and landing operations per hour, reducing cloud ceiling requirements from 180m to 80m and visibility from 2,800m to 800m, ensuring continuous flight operations at the airport.

Statistics

Year	Number of passengers
2005	94.432
2006
2007	185.953
2008
2009	377.728
2010	491.046
2011	631.096
2013	872.800
2014	930.110
2015	1.256.719
2016	1.787.300
2017	2.057.840
2018	2.310.148
2023	2.705.000

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Bamboo Airways	Buon Ma Thuot,[11] Can Tho,[12] Con Dao,[13] Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang,[14] Pleiku, Quy Nhon[15]
Lucky Air	Lijiang[16]
Pacific Airlines	Ho Chi Minh City
Ruili Airlines	Kunming[17]
VietJet Air	Buon Ma Thuot,[18] Can Tho, Da Lat,[18] Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc,[18] Pleiku, Quy Nhon,[19] Seoul–Incheon[20]
Vietnam Airlines	Buon Ma Thuot, Can Tho, Da Lat,[21] Dien Bien Phu,[22] Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang,[23] Phu Quoc[21]

See also

• Aviation portal

• List of airports in Vietnam

Notes

• Cat Bi International Airport became an international airport from 00:01 of 11 May 2016.^[1]
• Ready for new international flight to Guangzhou, China at the end of April^[when?]

References

1. "Cảng hàng không Cát Bi là cảng hàng không quốc tế". CAAV. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
2. "Tình hình Vận tải hàng hóa và hành khách tháng 12/2018". Haiphonginfo. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
3. Windrow, Martin (2011). The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam. Hachette. p. 181. ISBN 9781780222479.
4. Williams, Kenneth (2019). The US Air Force in Southeast Asia and the Vietnam War A Narrative Chronology Volume I: The Early Years through 1959 (PDF). Air Force History and Museums Program. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
5. Morgan, Ted (2010). Valley of Death: The Tragedy at Dien Bien Phu That Led America into the Vietnam War. Random House. pp. 252–3. ISBN 9781588369802.
6. "A Look Back ... Earthquake McGoon's Final Flight". Central Intelligence Agency. 16 July 2009. Archived from the original on 5 August 2009. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
7. "Air base near Haiphong hit by U.S. jets". Chicago Tribune. 10 February 1968.
8. "Heavy U.S. air raids strike at Haiphong". The New York Times. 28 August 1972. p. 1.
9. "By Sea, Air, and Land Chapter 4: Winding Down the War, 1968 - 1973". Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
10. "Vietnam releases master plan for Haiphong Airport | CAPA". centreforaviation.com.
11. "Bamboo Airways đẩy mạnh hoạt động kết nối du lịch Đắk Lắk đầu năm 2020". Báo Sài Gòn Giải Phóng. 11 January 2020.
12. "Từ ngày 05 tháng 8 năm 2020, Bamboo Airways mở thêm 4 đường bay kết nối Cần Thơ". CAAV (in Vietnamese). 4 August 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
13. "Nhiều cơ hội, lắm thách thức khi Bamboo Airways bay thẳng tới Côn Đảo". Vietnambiz (in Vietnamese). 14 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
14. "Bamboo Airways launches Hai Phong service from June 2019". Routesonline.
15. "Bamboo Airways mở bán vé đường bay Hải Phòng đi Quy Nhơn, TP Hồ Chí Minh, Cần Thơ". kinhtedothi.vn. 2 May 2019.
16. "Chinese Carriers May – Oct 2024 Vietnam / NE Asia Network Additions". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
17. "Ruili Airlines adds Hai Phong service from late-Sep 2019". Routesonline.
18. "Vietjet Air Adds New Domestic Routes from May 2016". airlineroute. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
19. Liu, Jim. "VietJet Air schedules new domestic routes from mid-June 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
20. "Vietjet Air adds Haiphong International flights from Dec 2016". routesonline. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
21. "Vietnam Airlines sắp mở 6 đường bay mới". Vietnambiz (in Vietnamese). June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
22. "Vietnam Airlines tiếp tục mở rộng mạng bay nội địa". Vietnam Airlines (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 14 July 2020.
23. "Vietnam Airlines đồng loạt mở thêm nhiều đường bay nội địa mới". Vietnam Airlines (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 1 June 2020.

External links

• French military images of Cat Bi supporting the Battle of Dien Bien Phu