Former Russian naval base becomes airport in Vietnam

Camranh, a former Russian military base, will be turned into a new civilian airport. Nearly $3 million will be spent on renovating the military airport.

Camranh will become one of the three key airports in the central part of Vietnam. According to the project plan, already approved by the Vietnamese government, the airport will be used as an international terminal in 2005. By 2010, it will be able receive up to 1 million passengers and up to 2 million passengers by 2020.

According to the director general of the airports center, Nguyen Lai, presently all work has been completed. The first airbus A-320 with 300 passengers will land on early Wednesday morning. This event will also mark the 114th anniversary of the birth of Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh.

With the opening of the Camranh airport, according to the Vietnam Airlines, the amount of passenger traveling from the central part of the country to the south and the north will increase by 30%.

Apart from building a civilian airport, the local administration plans to build large cultural and tourist complexes on the 12-kilometer long Camranh peninsula.

Camranh was an American military base during the Vietnamese war. In 1979, by the Treaty on a Gratuitous Lease with Vietnam, it became a Soviet Union naval base. The Russian Defense Ministry decided to close the military base and Camranh was returned to the Vietnam in May 2002.