HCM City has set up a special task force to look into the expansion the Tân Sơn Nhất Airport and submit to the Government early September. — Photo thanhnien.vn

HCM CITY — HCM City has set up a special task force to look into the expansion the Tân Sơn Nhất Airport and submit to the Government early September, a city leader has said.

Speaking with 200 voters in Củ Chi District on Sunday, Politburo member and city Party secretary Nguyễn Thiện Nhân said: “The city has hired eight leading aviation experts and architects to make studies on expansion of the Tân Sơn Nhất Airport to the golf course. At the end of this year city authorities will hold a meeting with Government officials to discuss how to effectively use the golf course land to expand the airport.”

Since the airport has only one gate on Trường Sơn Road, traffic congestion is inevitable, he said.

“The airport needs at least one more gate.”

He told voters that Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc had held a meeting with 15 relevant ministries, industries and HCM City to discuss if the golf course should be kept and development of the airport.

He had instructed them to hire an international consultancy for the expansion work and report to him by the end of the year, he said.

“Deputy Minister of Defence Lê Chiêm assured that if the Government wants to use the golf course for developing the aviation industry, his ministry will be ready to transfer it.”

The special task force includes Assoc Prof Dr Nguyễn Thiện Tống, former head of the HCM City Polytechnic University’s aviation technology faculty; Dr Trần Tiến Anh, the current head; former director of Tân Sơn Nhất Airport, Phan Tương; pilot and former deputy director of Vietnam Airlines, Nguyễn Thành Trung; pilot and principal of Vietnam Airlines’ Flight Training Centre, Nguyễn Nam Liên; and architect Ngô Viết Nam Sơn.

The task force will review two plans to expand the airport northwards. The first involves building one more runway and the second involves expanding the parking lot, building more terminal and streamline the airport management to improve efficiency.

“We prefer the second plan because building one more runway will be very expensive and it is not necessary,” Trung said.

With its two existing runways, the airport can double capacity with efficient management, he said.

He pointed out that the two runways now function like one because two aircraft cannot land and take-off at the same time. Besides, the mandatory gap between aeroplanes of 16km is too large and causes each landing and take-off to take five minutes.

“If we have good management and the gap is eight kilometres, Tân Sơn Nhất can receive 30 aircraft each hour instead of the current 12.”

The task force would identify the best expansion plan and also make plans to ease traffic congestion around the airport, he said. Sơn would be in charge of the latter, he added. — VNS