A beautifully built yet scantily used, Dien Bien Phu Airport or Muong Thanh Airport (DIN) is the biggest airport in the Northwest mountain area of Vietnam. This was a former air base used by the French army in the Indochina War from 1945 to 1954 for transportation and bombardment. Nowadays, Dien Bien Phu Airport has been reconstructed to be an international airport in Dien Bien province. 

The airport is mostly used for domestic flights from Hanoi, and Vietnam Airlines is the only airline to have airplane travel to this airport with the frequency of two flights per day. Flights depart Hanoi at 10:50 and 14:10 everyday and return from Dien Bien Phu at 12:20 and 15:40. Flight time is 1 hour and ticket cost is about $65.

From Dien Bien Phu Airport to city center

From the airport, visitors can take buses to get to the center of Dien Bien Phu city. The distance is about 3km and it takes you about 10 minutes travelling by car. Taxis are also available outside of the airport and cost you less than VND 50,000 ($2.5).