Con Dao Airport upgrade proposed to welcome two million passengers a year

Con Dao Airport currently only has routes operated by Bamboo Airways with Embraer E195 and VASCO with ATR72 turboprop aircraft

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has just submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Transport (MoT) to adjust the planning of Con Dao Airport in the period to 2030.

Accordingly, Con Dao Airport in Con Dao district in Ba Ria-Vung Tau will be adjusted to 4C airport standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and grade II military airport standards.

Under the plan, the passenger transport output would reach two million passengers a year and freight output 4,400 tonnes a year.

To realise these targets, the CAAV proposed a plan to expand and upgrade the existing runway and build a new apron for aircraft. At the same time, land would be reserved for the expansion of the parking lot when needed.

To ensure flight operations, the CAAV proposed building a new air traffic control tower to the east of the passenger terminal and installing a synchronous airport beacon system.

After the adjustment, the airport will be able to handle new-generation jets such as A319neo, A320neo, A321neo, and equivalents to operate on domestic routes.

The CAAV also proposed building a new passenger terminal to the southeast of the existing one to be able to meet the exploitation capacity of two million passengers a year as well as building a cargo terminal to the west of the passenger terminal to expand capacity to 4,400 tonnes of cargo a year on an area of ​​4,315 square metres.

In the proposal to adjust the planning of Con Dao Airport, the CAAV also proposed building a 13,950sq.m airline catering facility to the east of the passenger terminal when there is a need.

Altoghether, Con Dao Airport would need 181,745 hectaresof land for its expansion, including 104,604ha of the existing airport and an additional 76,908ha, including 32,266ha sea surface.

The total investment capital for the construction of Con Dao Airport in the period to 2030 is estimated at VND5.436 trillion($236.3 million), including an estimated VND76.4 billion ($3.32 million) for site clearance and around VND5.360 trillion ($233 million) for construction.

Con Dao Airport’s master plan was approved by the Minister of Transport in Decision No.1060/QD-BGTVT dated May 15, 2006.

Since the approval of the master plan in 2006, efforts were made to invest in the construction of Con Dao Airport’s basic construction items, according to the approved master plan.

At the same time, the airport has been operating effectively, ensuring the safety of flights and contributing to the socioeconomic development of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.

In recent years, the growth rate of passengers through Con Dao Airport has exceeded the forecast in the approved planning which stated that by 2025 the airport would only welcome 500,000 passengers a year. However, in 2020 the number of passengers already reached 447,750.

According to the approved plan, Con Dao Airport is a level 3C airport based on ICAO standards and can only accommodate ATR-72 and equivalent aircraft. In the forthcoming years, airlines will gradually phase out ATR-72 aircraft and the A320, A321 aircraft currently in operation will also be gradually replaced by newer generation models such as A319neo, A320neo, A321neo, and equivalent to exploit domestic routes, necessitating the expansion and upgrade of the airport.