Developed by the Sun Group, and completed in late 2018, Vietnam's first privately built commercial gateway is the first airport in the country to receive the accolade.

"This is a huge source of pride for us and acknowledges the far-reaching vision of the Sun Group, which set out to boost both tourism and trade in Quang Ninh province by creating a truly world class international airport," said airport director, Pham Ngoc.

"This award will serve as motivation for us to continue to go above and beyond to ensure we always provide the highest quality of service and give our customers the best airport experience."

Located in Quang Ninh province, 220 kilometres from capital Hanoi, the Sun Group developed airport cost $310 million to build and serves the UNESCO world heritage site of Halong Bay.

Capable of accommodating aircraft up to the size of the Boeing 787, Van Don International Airport has the capacity to handle 2.5 million passengers per annum.

The gateway has welcomed more than 150,000 passengers and 1,300 flights in its first eight months of operations.

In addition to boosting tourism, it is also expected to open up new trade opportunities for Quang Ninh province.

Dutch consultancy and engineering firm, Netherlands Airport Consultants (NACO), assisted with the construction of the gateway, which will have its capacity enhanced in the future to allow it to handle 5mppa by 2030.

Airlines currently serving Van Don include Donghai Airlines (Shenzen, China), Vietnam Airlines (Incheon, South Korea) and Qingdao Airlines (Hunan, China).

According to the airport, additional services to the Chinese cities of Hainan, Nanning and Guangzhou and new destinations in Japan and Thailand will be added by the end of 2019.

While the domestic market is scheduled for expansion with flights to Da Nang and Phu Quoc expected to be introduced in the next few months.

VNF