Gov’t hastens capital mobilization plan for Tan Son Nhat airport expansion

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A view of Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Transport and the Committee for Management of State Capital at Enterprises were required to collaborate in directing the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) to promptly finalize a pre-feasibility study report for the airport expansion.

Deputy PM Dung also calls for defining the structure of capital sources, capital mobilization channels, and investment roadmap for each project item.

In case of the ACV commissioned as the project investor, the Government official mentioned the need to spell out legal grounds in order to ensure legal compliance and put the items into operations by 2020.

He assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to preside over the appraisal of the project and submit it to competent authorities for approval.

Located in Ho Chi Minh City, Tan Son Nhat International Airport serves as a major civil and military airport, playing a key role in socio-economic development in the southern region and the country at large.

The southern airport has been suffering the prolonged overload and traffic congestion in airspace, terminals, and integrated transport links. This resulted in negative impacts on the development of air transport while posing threats to aviation safety.

Therefore, the upgrade and expansion of the southern airport is an urgent need.

According to Vietnam Economic Times, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc gave in-principle approval to the airport expansion as proposed by France’s ADP-I architectural and engineering company last March.

Under the proposal, one passenger terminal will be built in the south part of the airport, with a floor area of 200,000 square meters. The terminal, valued at an estimated VND18 trillion (US$784 million), can serve 20 million passengers a year.

Regarding the construction of T3 terminal as part of the Tan Son Nhat airport expansion, FLC Group, apart from the ACV, had suggested investing in the item, said Nguyen Ngoc Dong, Deputy Minister of Transport.