A rendering of the Long Thành International Airport plan in the southern province of Đồng Nai. Photo courtesy of Airports Corporation of Việt Nam

HCM CITY — Construction of the proposed Long Thành international airport in the southern province of Đồng Nai is expected to start next month as promised by State-owned Airports Corporation of Việt Nam (ACV), the airport’s main developer.

Lại Xuân Thanh, the chairman of ACV, which operates 22 airports across the country, said the first phase of the airport, with an investment of more than US$4.6 billion, is projected to be completed by 2025.

ACV will need to raise about VNĐ99 trillion ($4.28 billion), or 90 per cent of total capital needed for the first phase of the airport.

It is set to have VNĐ36.6 trillion ($1.57 billion) by 2025, or 37 per cent of the investment, and the rest from commercial loans and bonds.

The corporation has been working with 12 domestic and international credit institutions to borrow the remaining at an interest rate of 5-5.5 per cent a year with a loan term of 15 years.

In addition, the Government has proposed that the Việt Nam Air Traffic Management Corp should be the investor of the control tower and other safety features. 

The Government has also proposed building two additional roads to enhance better connections between the city and the new airport.

Đồng Nai Province has already handed over 1,800 hectares to make way for the airport. The corporation is making a detailed plan for the construction.

According to Thanh, ACV is also the developer of other key projects such as the third terminal at Tân Sơn Nhất international airport in HCM City, and the expansion of the international terminal at Hà Nội’s Nội Bài international airport.

The government last week officially approved the first phase of the airport.

The project has four component projects such as the headquarters of State management agencies, flight management services, essential airport facilities, and other works.

ACV will invest in the first runway, taxiways, a terminal, an aircraft parking space, and other major infrastructure at the airport.

The investment was approved by the National Assembly in 2017, which also issued a resolution on compensation and resettlement of and support for affected individuals and organisations.

The airport will be built in three phases over three decades, and is expected to become the country’s largest airport.

In the first phase, one runway with a length of 4,000m, taxiways, an apron, and a passenger terminal with other auxiliary works with a total floor area of ​​373,000 sq.m will be built to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo each year. 

The airport is expected to have four runways, four passenger terminals, and other auxiliary works 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 Thành District. It is expected to cost VNĐ336.63 trillion ($14.47 billion). 

The airport work requires more than 5,000ha of land and more than 364ha elsewhere to build two resettlement sites.

Around 4,800 households and 26 organisations are expected to be relocated to make way for it. 

Located 40km to the east of HCM City, Long Thành airport is expected to relieve overloading at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in HCM City, the country’s largest airport. — VNS