Colonial French Situated on flat, sandy ground on the south side of the major port city of
Da Nang, the area was ideal for an airfield, having unobstructed approaches to its north–south runways.
Tourane Airport was built by the French colonial government in the 1940s as a civilian airport. During
World War II, and the Japanese occupation of
French Indochina, the
Imperial Japanese Army Air Force used it as a military air base. over Indochina, 1952. This aircraft was returned to the USAF in October 1955 and scrapped. After the war, the facility was used by the
French Air Force during the
French Indochina War (1945–1954). In 1953/54 the French laid a NATO-standard asphalt runway at Tourane and stationed loaned American
B-26s "Invaders" of the Groupe de Bombardement 1/19 Gascogne. In 1954 after the
Geneva Peace Accords, these B-26s were returned to the United States.
Vietnam War In 1955, the newly established
Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) inherited from the French a token force of fifty-eight aircraft. These included a few squadrons of Cessna L-19 observation aircraft, C-47 transports and various utility aircraft. Tourane Airfield was turned over to civilian use, with the South Vietnamese using facilities at
Bien Hoa,
Nha Trang and at
Tan Son Nhut, near
Saigon. In 1957 the VNAF re-established a presence at the renamed
Da Nang Airport, stationing the 1st Liaison Squadron with
Cessna L-19s. The
South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) also used Da Nang as a ranger training facility.
Air Vietnam also used the facility from 1951 to 1975 for civilian domestic and international flights within Southeast Asia. During the
Vietnam War (1959–1975), the facility was known as Da Nang Air Base, and was a major United States military base. Once little more than a provincial airfield, the facility was expanded to with two asphalt runways with concrete touchdown pads. parallel taxiways, and a heliport. During the war the VNAF's
1st Air Division, and the USAF's
23d Air Base Group,
6252nd Tactical Wing,
35th Tactical Fighter Wing,
366th Tactical Fighter Wing,
362nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron, and the U.S. Navy (a detachment of
VQ-1) operated from the base. The Vietnam-US joint project to clean dioxin pollution was completed in 2018. The airport had previously seen high concentrations of dioxin in soil and sediment samples from the airport following the handling of Agent Orange and other herbicides during the Vietnam War.
COVID-19 pandemic According to the regulation of the
Ministry of Transport issued on 27 July 2020, the airport was temporarily closed from 28 July to 7 September to prevent an
outbreak in the city. == Facilities ==