Construction of Terminal 3 of Tan Son Nhat International Airport may start in October

Construction of Tan Son Nhat International Airport – terminal 3 may start in October

The Ministry of Defence proposed the prime minister to approve handing over 16 hectares of land at Tan Binh district to serve for the construction of Terminal 3 of Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

So far, the feasibility report of the project has been completed.

Do Tat Binh, deputy director of Airports Corporation Vietnam (ACV) said, “We will try to start the construction in October and the construction is expected to be completed within 24 months. This segment will contribute to dealing with the traffic jams at the city’s gates, promoting economic and tourism development for Ho Chi Minh City and other cities and provinces in the southern region."

The terminal has a designed capacity of 20 million passengers a year, which would help ease the overload at Terminal T1.

The total investment value of the project is estimated at VND10.99 trillion($477.8 million) that will be fully funded by the ACV.

Returning to the proposal of the Ministry of Defence, as the land plot is managed by the ministry, it is seeking approval to change its use purpose and hand it over to Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee for management.

The proposal of this ministry plays a crucial role in accelerating the project's construction. So far, the licensing procedures have been basically completed and the greatest concern is the land clearance.

“The construction process currently depends on the land clearance and handover,” Binh from ACV said.

Tan Son Nhat International Airport is the busiest airport in Vietnam. Its current two terminals handled over 40 million passengers in 2019, 1.6 times higher than their designed annual capacity of 28 million. While the number of passengers in 2020 decreased due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is forecast to get overloaded worse than ever once air travel is reopened.