HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình has urged the Ministry of Transport to direct contractors to finish upgrading the runways at Nội Bài and Tân Sơn Nhất international airports and put them into operation before the year-end peak travel season.

Nội Bài and Tân Sơn Nhất are Việt Nam’s two biggest airports and hold an important role in boosting economic development.

So far, the workload of the runway 1B upgrade at Nội Bài airport in Hà Nội is 75 per cent complete and is expected to be finished by December 31. The repair of taxiways and other items are being sped up.

At Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in HCM City, the project to upgrade the 25R/07L runway and other taxiways will be completed before December 10 and become operational before December 31.

As the projects are facing a capital shortage, Bình asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment to arrange funding by adjusting the medium- and long-term capital plan or transferring capital from projects with slow disbursement.

Regarding the handover of the cleared site for the construction of terminal T3 at Tân Sơn Nhất airport, the deputy PM asked the Ministry of Defence to accelerate the review of the land fund in Tân Sơn Nhất area, and soon plan to hand over the site to the Airports Corporation of Việt Nam for the implementation of the T3 passenger terminal construction project. 

The two projects to repair Tân Sơn Nhất and Nội Bài runways began on June 29 with an estimated cost of VNĐ4.05 trillion (US$174 million), equally distributed to the two. The upgrade will be carried out in two phases, with the first lasting six months and the second 14 months. — VNS