HCM CITY — A state-owned consultancy has proposed adjustments to the expansion plan for HCM City’s Tân Sơn Nhất international airport that would result in much lower costs than one proposed by the French consultancy ADPi.

ADPi’s proposal to expand Tân Sơn Nhất airport has been approved by the Prime Minister, but the government asked Airport Design and Construction Consultancy One Member Ltd Company (ADCC) to review ADPi’s plan to see if costs could be reduced, according to Nguyễn Bách Tùng, director of ADCC.

Tùng said that ADCC’s plan would keep most of ADPi’s recommendations, but would lower costs by VNĐ10.7 trillion (US$470 million) by redesigning a terminal and the airplane aprons surrounding it.

ADCC said the total investment would be VNĐ25 trillion ($1.1 billion), compared with VNĐ35.7 trillion ($1.56 billion) proposed by ADPi earlier.

Of the amount ADCC proposed, more than VNĐ7.6 trillion would be used for a passenger terminal, VNĐ5.2 trillion for an airfield, and VNĐ3 trillion for a cargo terminal, with the remaining capital would be for other technical infrastructure. 

Tùng said a park and a lake should also be built to improve the drainage system in the northern area of the airport.

In the southern area of the airport, ADCC proposed building a passenger terminal on ​120,000 sq. m. instead of 200,000 sq. m. as proposed by ADPi.

He said that the adjusted design would still be able to accommodate 20 million passengers per year.

ADCC proposed building the aprons in a more linear manner to save land, but said the taxiway design proposed by ADPi should remain the same.

ADCC also proposed building more flyovers connected to the airport to ease traffic congestion around the area.

The proposed flyovers include one from Hoàng Văn Thụ and Nguyễn Văn Trỗi streets passing over Thăng Long Street and then connecting with Phan Thúc Diện Street.

Another flyover would be built from C12 Street passing over Cộng Hòa and Trường Chinh streets and connecting with Lê Trọng Tấn Street.

Đinh Việt Thắng, director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Việt Nam (CAAV), agreed with ADCC’s proposal to build the new terminal on an area of ​​120,000 sq. m, with the condition that it serve 20 million passengers per year. 

Thắng said that other parts of the ADCC proposal should follow those recommended by the ADPi plan, which has been approved by the PM.

Deputy Transport Minister Lê Đình Thọ said the plan to expand Tân Sơn Nhất must ensure minimal impact on residents and require as little site clearance as possible.

The proposal by ADCC must be reviewed by CAAV before it is submitted to the Ministry of Transport, which will consult other agencies before May 21, according to CAAV.

In late March, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc approved the expasion of the airport to the south as proposed by ADPi after ongoing debate over whether to expand to the north or south. 

The first consultants hired by HCM City authorities had proposed expanding the airport to the north.

But ADPi argued that a similar passenger terminal built to the north, instead of the south, would cost twice as much, at about VNĐ36 trillion, while the terminals – old and new – would not be connected.

Under the ADPi proposal, part of the land north of the airport, which includes a golf resort and 16ha of vacant land managed by the Ministry of National Defence, will be used for support facilities, including a cargo terminal, aircraft repair station, and logistics services, but not until 2025.

The airport is expected to serve at least 50 million passengers a year.

Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport, the country’s busiest airport located in HCM City’s Tân Bình District, has become seriously overloaded, forcing many flights to wait in the air to land. 

The airport has a design capacity of 25 million passengers, but the passenger throughput in 2016 was 32 million and in 2017 over 36 million.

Việt Nam is also planning to build Long Thành International Airport in the neighbouring province of Đồng Nai to handle 60-70 million passengers per year. It is expected to reduce overcrowding at Tân Sơn Nhất airport.

However, the airport will not be completed until 2025 or possibly even later, which experts have attributed to a lack of capital and slow compensation progress. — VNS