Phu Cat Airport in Quy Nhon in Vietnam’s central region will be closed on April 11-21 to serve defense drills with live ammunition.
Vietnam’s state-controlled media reported citing an announcement on April 8 by Phu Cat Airport and Vietnam Airlines (Vietnam Airlines) about having to reschedule flights to and from Phu Cat Airport.
It is clear that on April 7, Phu Cat Airport sent a document to the People’s Committee of Binh Dinh province regarding the notice received the day before about the defense exercise with live fire at the National Army Training Center No. 2 at Binh Thanh Commune, Tay Son District, Binh Dinh Province on April 11-21. The live-fire time frame is said to stretch from 7 am to 11 pm every day. Therefore, civil aviation aircraft cannot take off and land.
Phu Cat Airport reports to the Civil Aviation Administration and proposes the People’s Committee of Binh Dinh province consult with relevant agencies in order to adjust the rehearsal time accordingly, taking into account the flight schedule to reduce minimize the impact on airport operations and airlines’ flight schedules.
However, according to the Director of Phu Cat Airport Nguyen Hoang Anh, the defense drill is said to be an “important political task to strengthen the guarantee of national sovereignty and security” so flights to this airport within the specified time to be rescheduled.
Vietnam Airlines said that the flight schedule on April 12-25 will be adjusted; specifically, on April 12, flights to and from Quy Nhon from 7 am to 4 pm will be changed to Tuy Hoa Airport; from April 13 to April 21, all flights from Quy Nhon will also change to Tuy Hoa Airport; Flights from April 22 to April 25 may have their departure times changed.
Vietjet Air announced that the flight plan to and from Phu Cat Airport from 5 am to 4 pm on April 12 must be changed; From April 13-21, flights at Phu Cat Airport will be temporarily suspended. Flights affected by the defense drills mentioned above will be diverted to and from Tuy Hoa Airport in Phu Yen.
Bamboo Airways said that at least eight of its flights from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Hai Phong connecting to Quy Nhon were adjusted and stopped operating two flights from Quy Nhon – Hanoi and Hanoi – Quy Nhon.
Translated by Thoibao.de from RFA: https://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/news/vietnamnews/live-fire-drill-to-close-phu-cat-airport-for-ten-days-04112022081037.html
