On 14 November 1953 the
United States Air Force483d Troop Carrier Wing flew five
C–119s from
Clark Air Base to Cat Bi to qualify French Air Force crews on them.[4]: 83 In December 1953 in order to support C–119s, the USAF deployed to Cat Bi detachments of the 483d Troop Carrier Wing, the 8081st Aerial Resupply Unit and a provisional maintenance squadron of the
Far East Air Logistics Force in what was known as Operation Cat Paw which had a peak strength in April 1954 of 121 men.[4]: 87
On 9 March 1954 civilian pilots from the CIA-backed
Civil Air Transport (CAT) arrived at Cat Bi to begin flying C-119s, they began flying cargo missions on 12 March.[4]: 110 Cat Bi-based CAT aircraft flew a total of 682 missions in support of the
Battle of Dien Bien Phu between 13 March and 6 May 1954.[6]
On 22 May 1954 the 483d Troop Carrier Wing maintenance detachment at Cat Bi relocated to
Tourane Air Base.[4]: 149
Vietnam War
During the war the base was used by the
Vietnam People's Air Force. On 9 January and 10 February 1968 United States jets attacked the base.[7]
In early 1973 U.S.
C-130 aircraft flew into Cat Bi to deliver minesweeping equipment as part of
Operation End Sweep.[9]
Expansion
Vietnam has announced a new master plan to upgrade the airport with a 3,050-meter second runway, a new terminal, and a new apron by 2015. The existing runway will also be upgraded. After the expansion, the airport will be capable of serving up to 4–5 million passengers a year.[10]
The first phase of the project was completed in May 2016, enabling this airport a capacity of 2 million passengers per year.
The new terminal and new runway were opened on 12 May 2016. The airport can serve the
Boeing 767,
Airbus A350 XWB and similar aircraft.