Construction work for Long Thành Airport’s passenger terminal. — VNA/VNS Photo Công Thành

HÀ NỘI — The Airports Corporation of Việt Nam (ACV) has proposed the Ministry of Transport (MoT) postpone the completion of Long Thành Airport’s passenger terminal to 2026 instead of 2025.

In a letter sent to the MoT, the ACV said that based on lessons learned from unsuccessful bidding and suggestions from some bidders in pre-bid conferences, it asked technical design consultants to carefully re-evaluate the construction time.

The technical design consultants suggested the passenger terminal construction time in phase one is 39 months, including 36 months of construction and three months for a trial period.

The proposal was verified and approved by the Việt Nam National Construction Consultant Corporation and the Institute of Construction Economics.

After receiving opinions from the technical design consultant, the project management board decided that the minimum construction time of 39 months was feasible and suitable.

Covering a total area of more than 5,580 hectares, the Long Thành international airport will be spread across six communes in Long Thành District, Đồng Nai Province.

The airport’s total investment is VNĐ336.63 trillion (US$14.2 billion), with construction divided into three phases.

In the first phase, a runway and one passenger terminal along with other support facilities will be built at a cost of VNĐ109.1 trillion to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo each year.

The project started in 2021. Once fully completed, the airport will be able to handle 100 million passengers and five million tonnes of cargo annually.

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