Da Nang International DAD: the complete layover guide

Da Nang International is the rare airport where the city shows up before your bags do. Downtown sits about 3 km from the terminal, which makes DAD one of the closest major airports to its own city anywhere in Asia.

The setup is simple. Terminal 1 handles every domestic flight, with VietJet running the biggest share of departures ahead of Vietnam Airlines. Terminal 2, opened in 2017, takes all international traffic, with carriers including Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, Bangkok Airways and a steady schedule of Korean, Chinese and Southeast Asian airlines. A covered landside walkway links the two buildings in about 5 minutes on foot. There is no shuttle between terminals, so the walk is your only option short of a taxi, and it is short enough that nobody bothers with the taxi.

Transfers here are landside affairs. Off an international arrival you clear immigration, collect bags, exit customs, then turn right and follow the signed walkway to Terminal 1 to check in again for a domestic leg. Give an international to domestic connection 2 hours on separate tickets and you will usually have time to spare, since both buildings are compact and the walk between them costs you almost nothing. Domestic to domestic inside Terminal 1 is quick; 60 to 90 minutes is comfortable on one ticket. The pinch points are the early morning and late evening departure banks, when security queues in both terminals stack up.

Getting downtown barely counts as a journey. Metered taxis from Mai Linh and VinaSun charge roughly 80,000 to 120,000 VND for the 10 to 15 minute run to the city center, call it 3 to 5 US dollars. Grab cars run about 60,000 to 100,000 VND with a designated pickup at Lane 1 outside arrivals, and GrabBike does the trip for 25,000 to 50,000 VND if you carry only hand luggage and some nerve. The public bus into town, Route 12, has been suspended since 2023, so it is road transport or nothing. Beach hotels along My Khe cost a little more by taxi, around 150,000 to 200,000 VND.

The catch is the clock. DAD does not run as a true 24 hour airport. Published hours conflict between sources, but traveler reports agree on the practical reality: the terminals empty after the last departures and people waiting for early flights sit outside until security reopens around 4:00 am. If your itinerary leaves you here through the small hours, take the 10 minute ride to a city bed instead of betting on a bench.