Located 40km to the east of Ho Chi Minh City, Long Thanh airport is expected to relieve overloading at Tan Son Nhat international airport in the southern metropolis, now the country’s largest airport. (Photo: ACV)
Hanoi (VNA) – The Long Thanh International Airport is a major project that demonstrates Vietnam’s will and aspirations to move ahead, which would contribute from 3-5 percent to national GDP.
The first phase of Long Thanh airport has begun after many years pending. Resources are now ready to put the airport into service as from 2025, “contributing to Vietnam’s strength and prosperity,” as Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at the ground-breaking ceremony on January 5.
Funding commitments
Lai Xuan Thanh, Chairman of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), said the first phase of the project is scheduled to be completed by 2025.
In the first phase, one runway with a length of 4,000m, taxiways, an apron, and a passenger terminal with other auxiliary works sprawling 373,000 sq.m will be built to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo each year. The total funding for this phase is estimated at 109.11 trillion VND (4.37 billion USD).
The ACV is the investor of several main components of the first phase, with total costs at some 99.01 trillion VND.
Therefore, the corporation has asked the Government to allow it to keep its profits in the years to come to invest in the project, thus reducing loans.
Thanh said ACV commits to ensure funding for the project, mobilising workforce and coordinating with relevant units to implement the project in line with legal regulations, while ensuring the progress and quality of the project.
Long Thanh is the biggest and most important airport of Vietnam, he said, adding that it would become a leading aviation centre of the region thanks to its location at the centre of the southern key economic zone.
Once operational, Long Thanh will be the centre of the “airport city” and a magnet to investors, he believed.
The airport is designed to have four runways, four passenger terminals, and other auxiliary facilities to ensure a capacity of 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo a year by 2040.
Covering a total area of more than 5,580ha, the airport will straddle six communes in Long Thanh district. It is expected to cost 336.63 trillion VND (14.5 billion USD).
Located 40km to the east of Ho Chi Minh City, Long Thanh airport is expected to relieve overloading at Tan Son Nhat international airport in the southern metropolis, now the country’s largest airport.
Speeding up site clearance
Around 4,800 households and 26 organisations are expected to be relocated to make way for the airport. Some 5,600 ha of land have been zoned off for the first phase of the project
Regarding site clearance, Cao Tien Dung, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Dong Nai province, said 2,600 ha of land have been handed over to contractors. The entire site clearance work is set to be completed within this year.
The province is also accelerating the construction of the Loc An-Binh Son resettlement area in order to early relocate affected residents. Apart from main roads and the sewage system, they are rolling out bidding packages of electricity, lighting system and water in the resettlement area.
The 280-ha settlement area is scheduled to have its infrastructure completed in early 2021, and accommodate about 28,500 people, according to the official.
Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The lauded efforts in land clearance, and expressed his belief that Long Thanh will be the most modern airport in Vietnam, and one of the most modern airports in the world.
Long Thanh must be competitive with airports in the region, especially in Singapore and Thailand, he said, ordering the application of cutting-edged technologies and equipment in the project./.
