Planes at Nội Bài International Airport in Hà Nội. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – The People's Committee of Hà Nội has proposed the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Transport reconsider the function of the city's second airport as an international airport instead of the domestic status as previously approved by the ministry.

In a document signed by Vice Chairman Dương Đức Tuấn and sent to the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Transport, the city’s committee stated that according to the plan submitted by the Ministry of Transport to the Prime Minister, Hà Nội would construct a second airport as a domestic airport, which is expected to be located in the southeast or south of the city, by 2050.

The planning project does not specify the criteria for the airport's scale, classification, capacity, or land area.

The committee stated that the adjusted master plan for the construction of the Hà Nội capital region by 2030 with a vision towards 2050, which was approved by the then Prime Minister in 2016, plans to build a second airport in the city.

The potential locations for the second airport include the Lý Nhân district area in Hà Nam Province, approximately 60-65km from the city centre; the southern area of the city in Ứng Hoà District, approximately 35-40km from the city centre; the Thanh Miện and Bình Giang districts in Hải Dương Province, approximately 45-50km from the city centre; and the Tiên Lãng District in Hải Phòng City, approximately 120km from the city centre.

The city’s committee has proposed the airport to be an international one, while the ministry has only specified it as a domestic one.

According to the committee, during the participation in the consultation on the national airport system planning for the period of 2021-2030 with a vision towards 2050, the committee already proposed the ministry to study the construction of the second international airport.

This proposal aims at increasing the total capacity of the city’s airports to 130-150 million passengers per year by 2050 in a bid to meet the transport demands of the city’s people.

The committee said that the city’s population is expected to reach approximately 21-23 million people and a total area of about 24,314 square kilometres by 2050. This number is basically equivalent to HCM City with a population of 24-25 million people and an area of about 30,400 square kilometres.

The national airport system planning by the ministry, which is to be submitted to the Prime Minister, has designated Tân Sơn Nhất and Long Thành as the two international airports in HCM City with a total capacity of about 150 million passengers per year.

Therefore, it is necessary to construct two international airports in Hà Nội, it said.

The committee has proposed the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Transport adjust the nature and function of the second airport in the city as an international airport.

The ministry should study and determine the location and planning criteria for this airport, which will serve as a basis for the committee to update the capital's master plan.

According to the national airport system master plan for the period of 2021-2030 with a vision towards 2050, the country will have a total of 33 airports by 2050. – VNS