Anti-flooding works to be built first in Tan Son Nhat airport expansion

Tan Son Nhat international airport in HCM City’s Tan Binh District. Under a new plan, a new international airport T3 terminal will be built. Photo courtesy of Tan Son Nhat International Airport

The plan, which includes a call for investors, was submitted by the ministry yesterday to PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Work on a reservoir with a state-of-the-art pumping system, which will combat flooding in the airport area, must begin within this year and be completed before 2019, the ministry said in its report.

The new terminal must be completed before 2022, while the upgrade of runways, taxiways and auxiliary facilities must be implemented in the next two years, according to the ministry.

The total cost of VND4.46 trillion (US$191 million) for these upgrades would be covered by funds from airport operations and the Government’s budget.

In addition, the ministry said it would announce a list of construction projects that need funds in the northern area of the airport, including an airplane maintenance area, and facilities for food, gasoline, cargo and logistics services.

The ministry has asked agencies to mobilise a total of VND25 trillion ($1.07 billion) for the expansion project.

Airports Corporation

The Ministry of Transport appointed the Airports Corporation of Vietnam JSC (ACV) to complete the major work of the expansion project.

ACV will build the T3 terminal, enlarge the apron and sewerage systems, and build a reservoir, pumping station, taxiways, and runways.

Land for the construction should be cleared by next year so that work can be completed in 2022, the ministry said.

The ministry chose ACV to do the work because it would take too long, up to two years, to find an investor under the PPP (Public – Private Partnership) mode, and thus would delay completion of the project.

ACV has invested in infrastructure at 21 airports around the country.

According to Lại Xuan Thanh, ACV chairman, the company has funds of over VND36 trillion to build the Long Thành International Airport in Dong Nai Province.

ACV this year is focused on five major tasks: a feasibility study for Long Thanh Airport to be submitted to the ministry next June, a pre-feasibility study to enlarge Tan Son Nhat Airport, and feasibility studies for a terminal each at Cat Bi (Hai Phong), Vinh (Nghe An Province) and Phu Bai (Thua Thien – Hue Province) airports.

Besides using its own funds, the company also plans to borrow from banks and invest in projects jointly with other entities.

The ministry has also called on the Government to instruct HCM City to build roads, reservoirs, parks, and a sewage system outside the airport.

The Ministry of Transport has approved a detailed plan to expand Tan Son Nhat both northward and southward to serve 50 million passengers a year by 2020.

The expansion will increase the airport area by 246 hectares to more than 791ha.

Terminals T1 and T2 will be expanded to serve 30 million passengers a year, while T3 to the south will accommodate 20 million.

An additional eight taxiways will be built to speed up aircraft take-offs and landings.

At least 56 aprons will be added in front of the T3 terminal and to the southwest of the airport, increasing the total number to 106.

Tan Son Nhat, the country’s busiest airport, has become seriously overloaded both on the ground and in the air, forcing many flights to wait to land.

The airport, which has a designed capacity of 25 million passengers, handled over 36 million passengers last year.