Halong airport lies 50 kilometers from the famous World’s Heritage Site and is designed to receive two million arrivals a year.
As a report on Hanoi Moi newspaper, Quang Ninh Provide have announced that an international airport near the bay will be opened at the end of March next year.
The airport located in Van Don Island around 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the famous bay, and also is the first private facility in Vietnam
Van Don airport is designed to receive two million arrivals a year by 2020, and there are plans to expand the capacity to five million by 2030. Official details are not yet available, but the budget for this project is $330 millions.
Vietnam’s government approved the project in 2014. A group of South Korean investors was originally assigned to build the airport, but after an early exit in 2015, local real estate conglomerate Sun Group took over.
Another Vietnamese company is also developing a $2 billion casino complex on the island.
UNESCO recognizing Halong Bay as World Heritage Site in 1994, and the bay itself is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Vietnam.
Visitor numbers rose 23 percent on-year from January-March to 944,000, including more than 800,000 foreigners, according to official figures.
The bay was used to film the recent Hollywood blockbuster “Kong: Skull Island”, and has been raved about by many travel bloggers.
Read more: $1 Billion Project To Upgrade International Airports