Nà Sản Airport

The Nà Sản Airport (IATA: SQH, ICAO: VVNS) (Vietnamese: Sân Bay Nà Sản) is an airport in Mai Sơn District, Sơn La Province, Vietnam. Currently, there are no scheduled services to Nà Sản.

Nà Sản Airport

Sân Bay Nà Sản
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorNorthern Airports Services Company
ServesSơn La
LocationMai Sơn, Sơn La Province, Vietnam
Elevation AMSL669 m / 2,195 ft
Coordinates21°12′53″N 104°02′07″E
Map
SQH
Location of the airport in Vietnam
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
12/30 2,409 7,904 Paved
Sources: GCM,[1] STV[2]

History

First Indochina War (1946 – 1954)

Nà Sản Airport was built in 1950 by the French as part of their army outpost in Nà Sản. Initially, the airport had a short clay airstrip but it was then extended and paved with pierced steel planking to be able to handle larger planes like the Douglas DC-3. In October 1952, the outpost was fortified to create a hedgehog defense against the Viet Minh forces in what was to become the Battle of Nà Sản. After the battle ended in December 1952, the French retained control of the region. In August 1953, French forces withdrew from the outpost and Nà Sản Airport was abandoned afterward.[3]

Post First Indochina War (1954 – present)

Under the Democratic Republic of Vietnam authority, the airport resumed operations in 1958 when Air Vietnam started flying from Hanoi–Gia Lâm to Nà Sản and Điện Biên by Antonov An-2.[4] After the Reunification of Vietnam, the airport opened from 1994 until May 2004 when it was closed for "upgrades and maintenance". Since then, the airport has been disused.[5]

Usage

There are currently no scheduled services to Nà Sản as the airport is closed. In January 2015, an upgrade was proposed for the airport. According to the modified plan for 2020 with vision to 2030, the airport would become a mixed-use domestic airport capable of handling 900,000 passengers a year by 2020 and 1.5 million by 2030, its single runway would be extended to 2,600 m (8,500 ft). However, Nà Sản Airport was dropped from the modified planning of Vietnam's air transport development released in February 2018. This leaves Điện Biên Phủ Airport, 110 km (68 mi) west of Nà Sản, the sole airport of Vietnam's Northwest region while Nà Sản Airport's future remains unclear.[6]

See also

References
  1. Airport information for VVNS at Great Circle Mapper.
  2. Airport information for Na San Airport at Transport Search website.
  3. "Tập đoàn cứ điểm Nà Sản". Bảo tàng chiến thắng lịch sử Điện Biên Phủ (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  4. Quốc Việt. "Khởi đầu hàng không dân dụng miền Bắc". Tuổi Trẻ Online (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  5. Quốc Lê. "Tận mục sân bay thời Pháp sắp "hồi sinh" ở Tây Bắc". Kiến Thức (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  6. "Quyết định 236/QĐ-TTg" (PDF). Vietnam Ministry of Transport. February 23, 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.