Noi Bai airport to open sooner as Storm Talim weakens

Two other airports, Van Don in Quang Ninh and Cat Bi in Hai Phong, will remain closed from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, said Tran Hoai Phuong, director of the Northern Airports Authority.

The shortening of Noi Bai’s closing time is due to better weather conditions at the Hanoi airspace than previously anticipated. Hanoi airport serves high travel demand and an extended closing period will impact many people’s travel plans, Phuong added.

Quang Ninh and Hai Phong, on the other hand, would experience direct impacts of Storm Talim. Coupled with the fact that air traffic levels at the regions’ two airports are not as high, they would remain closed as previously planned.

On Monday, the Northern Airports Authority decided to close down the Noi Bai, Van Don and Cat Bi airports for certain periods on Tuesday due to impacts of Storm Talim, the first storm to make an appearance on the East Sea this year. Over 100 flights were expected to be canceled or delayed as a result, affecting thousands of passengers.

As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, the storm was above the southern region of China’s Guangxi Province, with a maximum wind speed at 74 kph, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting. Over the next 12 hours, the storm is expected to move west-northwest at 20 kph, and would gradually weaken to become a tropical depression.

Due to the impacts of the storm, strong winds would be observed in multiple Vietnam localities, with heavy rains up to 300 mm seen in certain northern Vietnam regions until Wednesday. Northern provinces Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Lao Cai and Yen Bai are advised to prepare against risks of flooding and erosion.