Con Dao Airport Plans 4E Upgrade Amid Offshore Construction Challenges
Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Authority has submitted an outline for detailed planning to upgrade Con Dao Airport from category 4C to 4E, with a long-term target of 5 million passengers a year. Extending its coastal runway and installing lighting for night flights pose construction and cost challenges.
Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Authority recently submitted to the Ministry of Construction an outline for preparing a detailed plan for Con Dao International Airport for 2021–2030, with a vision to 2050. Under the airport system plan revised in July 2026, Con Dao Airport is slated to be upgraded from a category 4C domestic airport to a category 4E international airport, with annual passenger capacity targets of about 2 million by 2030 and about 5 million by 2050. The category 4E plan sets a course for accommodating wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 in the future, but actual operations will depend on whether the runway, taxiways, aprons and flight safety facilities meet technical requirements.
An upgrade of Con Dao Airport to category 4E is under study to accommodate larger aircraft.（VietVance）
The airport’s existing runway is 1,830 meters long and 30 meters wide. Both ends are close to the coast, and the surrounding mountains leave limited room for expansion. The airport currently serves mainly ATR72 aircraft operated by VASCO and COMAC C909 aircraft operated by Vietjet. Because it does not yet have an aviation lighting system that meets the requirements for regular night flights, operations are largely limited to 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., restricting airlines’ ability to add flights.
An official at Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) said the company had studied extending the runway, but approach lighting facilities might have to be built at sea. Complex currents and waves make construction more difficult, and building lighting facilities at both ends of the runway would also be costly.
In 2024, a proposal to extend the runway out to sea to 2,400 meters, allowing the Airbus A321 to carry a fuller commercial payload, was estimated to require more than 10 trillion Vietnamese dong. It also faced concerns over cost and its impact on the marine environment. After an assessment, French consultancy ADPi concluded that, with suitable upgrades, the existing runway could serve most narrow-body aircraft, including the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, although the Airbus A321 would have to operate with a restricted commercial payload. A subsequent proposal called for retaining the runway’s length, widening it to 45 meters, and building supporting taxiways, aprons and flight operations facilities.
ACV is now assessing the feasibility of investing in the airport’s expansion. The specific plan still depends on detailed planning, forecasts of transport demand and financial returns. An aviation expert has suggested assessing whether wide-body aircraft are necessary to reach annual throughput of 5 million passengers; with sufficient aircraft stands, terminal capacity and flight frequency, narrow-body aircraft may also be able to meet passenger demand.
Source: VietVance
