BÌNH THUẬN — Bình Thuận Province authorities held a meeting with the Ministry of Defence and other relevant agencies on Tuesday to discuss speeding up of the construction of the civilian-military Phan Thiết Airport.

They urged the ministry to quickly pay compensation to land owners. Of VNĐ135 billion (US$6 million), only around VNĐ50 billion ($2.2 million) has been paid so far.

The ministry should sanction the extra money needed to upgrade the runway from 4C to 4E standard of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), they said.

The ministry should identify the builder of the military section of the airport so that the work can proceed quickly, they said.

Minister of Defence Ngô Xuân Lịch urged the province authorities to acquire land and hand it over to the builders.

The 543ha Phan Thiết Airport in Thiện Nghiệp Commune is being built in BOT (build-operate-transfer) mode at an estimated cost of VNĐ5.6 trillion ($247 million).

Rạng Đông JSC is the contractor for the civilian component, which is expected to cost VNĐ1.64 trillion ($73.5 million).

The construction began in 2015 and the airport is scheduled to open next year.

It will have a capacity of 500,000 passengers and 10,000 tonnes of cargo a year.

The airport is expected to help develop tourism and other services and attract investors by reducing the time it takes to travel to Phan Thiết from the rest of the country.

Việt Nam has total 21 operational airports, nine of them international: Nội Bài, Cam Ranh, Đà Nẵng, Phú Bài, Vinh, Chu Lai, Tân Sơn Nhất, Cần Thơ (Trà Nóc) and Phú Quốc. — VNS