More than 170 trillion VND (8 billion USD) will be invested in building and upgrading the Long Thanh, Chu Lai and Cam Ranh international airports and Quang Ninh Airport.

The news was announced by the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam(CAAV) on October 15, which said it also planned to turn Long Thanh into a regional transport hub, competing with major airports around the world.

Located in the southern province of Dong Nai, the airport is designed to receive A380-800 aircraft or the equivalent with an annual capacity of 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo.

The first phase of work will be carried out from 2015 to 2020 with investment capital of 151.7 trillion VND (7.2 billion USD).

It includes two parallel runways, a passenger terminal with a capacity of 25 million passengers per year and a cargo terminal with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes.

The CAAV said that Chu Lai International Airport in the central province of Quang Nam's Chu Lai Open Economic Zone would be upgraded with an investment capital of 11.5 trillion VND (546.1 million USD).

Chu Lai is an important cargo transport centre for the Dung Quat Industrial Park in central Quang Ngai province and the economic zone it will be located in.

It will have two parallel runways, a passenger terminal capable of handling 2.3 million passengers per year and a cargo terminal with a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per year. The project will be carried out from 2015 to 2025.

About 4.5 trillion VND (214.3 million USD) will be invested in upgrading Cam Ranh International Airport - the main airport serving Nha Trang resort city in the central coast province of Khanh Hoa. The airport handles both domestic and international flights to Nha Trang.

The project, that will start in 2015 and be completed by 2030, will include a new runway and upgrade work on Runway 1.

According to CAAV, the construction of Quang Ninh Airport in Van Don district in the northern province of Quang Ninh will be divided into two phases.

The first phase from 2015 to 2020 will allow the airport to receive 2 million passengers and 4,050 tonnes of cargo per year. The second phase until 2030 will increase cargo capacity to 7,500 tonnes per year.

The project includes runways, taxiways, airfields, an air traffic control tower, a passenger terminal and a cargo terminal. Total investment is estimated at 5.1 trillion VND (243 million USD).

Decision 21/QD-TTg dated January 8, 2009 issued by the Prime Minister stated that Vietnam should have 26 airports by 2020, of which 10 would be international.-VNA