Ministry plans to sell operation rights to int'l airports

The pilot scheme to sell the operation rights of Phu Quoc International Airport should be speeded up this year, the Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang has said.

Thang spoke at a meeting on mobilising investments for the country's aviation infrastructure, held by the Transport Ministry in Ha Noi on Wednesday.

He asked the Airports Corporation of Viet Nam (ACV) to build a plan to sell 100 per cent of the stakes at Phu Quoc International Airport. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam (CAAV), Phu Quoc Island airport was developed with total capital of VND3 trillion (about US$141 million), mainly funded by ACV.

The sale of Phu Quoc Airport will help ACV, which provided 100 per cent of funding for building the airport's terminal and runway, will result in money to be used for other aviation infrastructure projects.

Phu Quoc Airport, which was brought into operation over two years ago, can accommodate long-range aircrafts such as Boeing 777-300s, Boeing 747-400s and Airbus A380-800s.

It was designed to serve 2.65 million passengers per year by 2020 and up to seven million passengers by 2030.

It provides services to domestic flights connecting the island district with Ha Noi, HCM City and other cities across the country operated by local carriers such as Vietnam Airlines, VietJet Air and Jestar Pacific.

If the pilot plan to sell the operation rights to Phu Quoc Airport is successful, ACV would continue to sell or transfer the operation rights of other airports.

Minister Thang also asked ACV to map out plans to invest in projects to upgrade and renovate other airports in the country, including Cam Ranh Airport in the central province of Khanh Hoa.

Thang also asked ACV to speed up the pilot plan to sell the operation rights of Hall E of Terminal 1 (T1) at Noi Bai International Airport in Ha Noi.

CAAV in coordination with ACV has conducted a feasibility study for a project to enlarge the parking lots for aircraft and to build parking areas for automobiles at Tan Son Nhat Airports in HCM City. The feasibility study is scheduled to be completed in March 2015.