The current Vũng Tàu Airport in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province. — Photo baodautu.vn

BÀ RỊA–VŨNG TÀU — Planning for a specialised airport on Gò Găng Island will be incorporated in the master plan for the development of the national airport system by 2030 with an official dispatch sent by the Ministry of Transport to the People's Committee of Bà Rịa Vũng Tàu Province.

In 2010, the provincial People's Committee had the policy to relocate Vũng Tàu Airport to Gò Găng Island in Long Sơn Commune, as the airport is located in the centre of Vũng Tàu City, which affects the city's urban development.

The Government has agreed to relocate the airport and set up a plan to build a new airport on Gò Găng Island.

From the research results, in 2015, the Civil Aviation Authority of Việt Nam (CAAV) proposed that Vũng Tàu Airport on Gò Găng Island (called Gò Găng Airport) would reach the 3C scale (according to the standard code of the International Civil Aviation Organisation – ICAO) and be a specialised airport.

Under Decision No.236/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister approved in February 2018 on adjusting the master plan on the development of air transport for the period up to 2020, with a vision to 2030, Vũng Tàu Airport was transferred to the Ministry of National Defence for management as a specialised airport along with the airports that had been or were being planned but were no longer in the national airport system.

The Ministry of Transport pointed out many factors to keep the function of the Gò Găng Airport as a specialised, not a regular public airport.

According to the Ministry of Transport, forecasts when planning the airport system nationwide showed that the demand for air transport in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province (excluding Côn Đảo Airport) is relatively high, with an estimated number of passengers of 14.7 million per year in 2030 and 28.6 million in 2050.

However, the proposed location of Gò Găng Airport is very close to the under-construction mega project Long Thành International Airport in Đồng Nai Province and Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in HCM City.

With a distance of about 45km, 99.43 per cent of the population can reach Long Thành Airport in less than 1 hour.

In the context of Biên Hoà-Vũng Tàu Expressway being invested for construction, Long Thành Airport can completely meet the air transport needs of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province.

In addition, operating regular civil aviation at Gò Găng Airport will greatly affect the operation and flight management capacity of Long Thành and Tân Sơn Nhất airports.

The location of Gò Găng Airport is about 39km from Long Thành Airport and about 66km from Tân Sơn Nhất Airport.

If the airport is planned to become a regular public airport, the location of Gò Găng is in the airspace of Long Thành Airport.

Currently, the airspace around Gò Găng Airport is the waiting area of ​​Tân Sơn Nhất Airport, with a large concentration of civil aircraft.

The location of Gò Găng Airport is about 14km southwest of Bà Rịa City. As planned, Gò Găng Airport will have a runway towards the city centre.

The operation of regular civil aviation at Gò Găng Airport will directly affect urban planning and development of Bà Rịa City due to the limitation of static space that causes environmental impact and noise in urban areas.

The Ministry of Transport argued that Gò Găng Airport was formed to exploit helicopters, air taxis, tourism and oil and gas exploitation activities.

This operational nature is suitable for the specialised airport model.

With a specialised airport model, Gò Găng Airport can still meet the transportation needs as proposed by the People's Committee of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province without affecting the plan for airspace organisation and flight capacity of nearby airports, according to the ministry.

The ministry asked the provincial People’s Committee to work with the Ministry of National Defence to choose the location and planning of Gò Găng Airport as a specialised airport.

Gò Găng is a small island in Long Sơn Commune, only 3km from Vũng Tàu City centre and about 90km from HCM City. The island is known as an interesting tourist destination with abundant seafood resources and beautiful beaches. — VNS