The airport’s international terminal serving the Laotian capital, Vientiane, can now accommodate as many as 2.3 million foreign travelers annually, roughly nine times the terminal’s original capability.
Japanese construction company Hazama Ando, which managed the Wattay International Airport expansion project, officially handed over the terminal to Lao authorities on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, Japanese air services provider Jalux and Toyota Tsusho trading house agreed to increase the management of the international terminal as a part of a three way partnership with local firms for 10 years.
Laos desires to turn into a travel destination, and the expanded terminal will play a key role here.
The government of Laos expects the number of individuals arriving within the country on international flights to achieve 1.51 million in 2023.
The expansion project doubled the scale of the international terminal to 25,000 square meters.
During the works, Wattay International used a makeshift terminal to handle the increasing variety of tourists flying to Laos, after which used a part of the expanded terminal because the project progressed.
The airport also demolished its aging domestic terminal and built a brand new two-story, 7,000-square-meter facility.
The projects cost the equivalent of about 9.7 billion yen ($87.4 million), of which about 9 billion yen was covered by a yen loan backed by the Japanese government.
