An artist's impression of the Long Thành International Airport in the southern province of Đồng Nai. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The southern province of Đồng Nai will build four routes linking localities with the area of Long Thành International Airport, construction of which began earlier this month.

According to Nguyễn Bôn, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Transport, the construction of the roads, each stretching 45-60m, is expected to cost trillions of đồng.

The routes include three directly leading to the airport, notably one running from the intersection with road DT 763 in Định Quán District, Đồng Nai Province, to National Highway 51 in Long Thành District.

The route, with investment of VNĐ2.3 trillion (US$99.2 million), is a strategic road connecting Long Khánh City and districts such as Định Quán, Thống Nhất and Cẩm Mỹ with the airport.

The other aims to connect localities in the eastern part of Đồng Nai, and ease overloading on National Highways 1A and 20, and the Dầu Giây intersection.

Đồng Nai also plans to expand and upgrade seven routes in order to facilitate the trading of goods among 32 industrial parks in the province.

Cao Tiến Dũng, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said Đồng Nai considers Long Thành airport as the driver for its districts and cities to grow further, saying the province will develop a synchronous, modern transport network to optimise potential and advantages generated by the airport.

Construction of the first phase of Long Thành International Airport started on January 5.

The airport will be built in three phases over three decades, and is expected to become the country’s largest airport.

In the first phase, one runway with a length of 4,000m, taxiways, an apron, and a passenger terminal with other auxiliary works sprawling 373,000sq.m will be built to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo each year.

The airport is designed to have four runways, four passenger terminals, and other auxiliary facilities to ensure a capacity of 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo a year by 2040.

Covering a total area of more than 5,580ha, the airport will straddle six communes in Long Thành District. It is expected to cost VNĐ336.63 trillion ($14.5 billion), with the first phase needing over VNĐ109 trillion.

Around 4,800 households and 26 organisations are expected to be relocated to make way for it.

Located 40km to the east of HCM City, Long Thành airport is expected to relieve overloading at Tân Sơn Nhất international airport in the southern metropolis, now the country’s largest airport. — VNS