Lien Khuong’s new runway: Can it turn Vietnam’s Da Lat into the next Bali?

Since early March 2026, the skies above Da Lat have fallen almost silent, with flights suspended as Lien Khuong Airport underwent a VND1,032 billion (US$41 million) runway resurfacing project.

When the airport reopens next month, it will welcome back domestic services and launch a new international route.

The question now is whether this highland city can compete with destinations already well established among global travelers, such as Bali in Indonesia and Chiang Mai in Thailand.

New runway, bigger ambitions

On Vietnam's aviation map, Lien Khuong holds an uncontested position: it is the only international airport in the entire Central Highlands, a status formally established in June 2024, when Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang attended the ceremony announcing the upgrade decision.

Given that status, every closure or reopening of this airport either sends shockwaves or delivers a boost across the whole region, not just Da Lat.

This overhaul was no small undertaking.

The entire runway, which is 3,250 meters long and 45 meters wide, was converted from an asphalt-concrete structure to a more durable concrete pavement, with total investment exceeding VND1,032 billion, funded by the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV).

The goal does not stop at completing repairs.

By 2030, Lien Khuong Airport is planned to meet Code 4E standards, the highest classification in Vietnam's current airport grading system, sufficient to accommodate wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 787 or Airbus A350, raising capacity to around five million passengers a year, then to seven million after 2030.

The most telling numbers concern flight frequency.

Before the closure, Lien Khuong served an average of just 34-36 flights a day, carrying around 5,900 passengers.

As soon as it reopens on August 19, those figures are expected to jump to 36-40 flights a day, carrying about 6,800 passengers, nearly 1,000 more people a day than pre-closure levels.

Five airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways, Pacific Airlines, and AirAsia, are resuming service simultaneously, with Vietjet alone announcing up to 91 round-trip flights a week to Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Vinh, and Da Nang.

In other words, the new runway is designed not merely to restore what was lost, but to welcome a record number of passengers never before seen in the airport's history.

Da Lat carves out its own niche

But a longer, more modern runway doesn't necessarily turn Da Lat into a global destination.

In Southeast Asia, Bali has long maintained a dense network of direct international flights built up over decades, while Chiang Mai has developed a wellness-tourism ecosystem that runs smoothly.

By contrast, Da Lat currently has just one scheduled international route despite Lien Khuong Airport’s return to full capacity: AirAsia’s Da Lat–Kuala Lumpur service, which will resume on September 2, 2026, operating four flights a week.

Other potential routes to South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Japan, and Hong Kong remain under study, with airlines considering both the revival of former services and the launch of new ones.

What's notable is that Lam Dong provincial authorities do not appear to be racing to match the scale of Bali or Chiang Mai, opting instead to build Da Lat's identity around experience.

Tran Thanh Hoai, then deputy director of the Lam Dong Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) online newspaper in June 2025 that Da Lat is rising to become a new global destination, meeting the needs of the elite, stressing: "That is not a choice, but an inevitability."

Y Thanh Ha Nie Kdam, secretary of the Lam Dong Provincial Party Committee, also told Tuoi Tre that Da Lat is "a city of value in the Asian region" and "a draw for Southeast Asia and Asia."

This strategy is clearly reflected in how Lam Dong weathered six months without air access: rather than waiting it out, the province organized numerous large-scale cultural and sporting events while partnering with neighboring tourism markets and with Khanh Hoa to make up for the disrupted flow of visitors.

As a result, despite the airport closure, Lam Dong still welcomed nearly 12 million visitors in the first six months of 2026, reaching 50 percent of its annual target, up 18 percent year-on-year, of which international arrivals reached 825,000, up 18.6 percent.

It's proof that Da Lat's appeal doesn't rest on a single runway alone.