Wattay International Airport is just outside Vientiane and the principal air gateway to the country. TTR Weekly reported that an average of one million passengers pass through the airport every year and that even with a new international terminal it is very busy.
The airports bureau boss did not disclose how many new staff would be taken on or even a timetable for the hiring process. Construction workers are still in the process of building Attapeu Airport in the far south of Laos. The estimated opening date for this airport is currently May 2015. At the opposite end of the nation, Nongkhang Airport is close to Nam Et-Phou Louey National Park and is due to open the following month.
Lao authorities have already conceded that Wattay as well as airports in Luang Prabang and Savannakhet are undermanned. They recognised that more trained personnel were needed to handle increased passenger throughput together with the growing amounts of goods the airports now process.
Lao airports bureau in staff recruitment drive
News in Asia
The boss of the Lao Airports Authority told reporters this week that the bureau planned to recruit more personnel to deal with burgeoning tourist numbers. Somboun Daosavanh stated that the bureau had a three-year plan to increase staff at existing airports in the landlocked Southeast Asian nation as well as two new ones due to open next year.