Second international airport for Hanoi added to planning

Long Thanh international airport will break ground at the end of this December

The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) has just completed and collected comments from stakeholders on the draft master plan on airport and international airport development by 2030 with a vision to 2050.

Accordingly, the authority has yet to determine the location of the second airport in Hanoi, but confirmed the project in the draft master plan. They will consider the location of the airport after 2040.

Additionally, the CAAV has also added an airport in the northern province of Cao Bang to the draft. Earlier, the leader of the province said that transport infrastructure is very limited as the province has no railways, highways, or airports to speak of. Thus, Cao Bang airport is expected to provide a significant boost to tourism while also ensuring border security in the north.

This draft is different from the master plan issued 2018. The one in 2018 was set by 2020 with a vision to 2030, while this new one plans by 2030 and vision to 2050. Thus, there will be 26 airports by 2030, including the 22 ones already operational and four newly-built ones (Long Thanh, Sapa, Quang Tri, Phan Thiet).

By 2050, there will be four additional airports developed in Cao Bang, Na San (Son La province), Lai Chau, and Hanoi. Different from the previous draft, this one does not contain airports in Ha Tinh and Thanh Son (Thanh Hoa province).

In addition to new airports, the CAAV plans to upgrade and expand some available ones like Cam Ranh, Danang, Tan Son Nhat, and Noi Bai.

The CAAV estimates that the investment in 2020-2030 to build eight airports and upgrade some others will be VND365.1 trillion ($15.87 billion), and VND866.36 trillion ($37.67 billion) in 2030-2050. These will be mobilised from ODA loans, state budget, commercial loans from financial institutions, and capital from the private sector in the PPP form.

As of date, there are 22 operating airports, including nine international ones, and 13 domestic ones, and will be raised to 28 ones by 2030 (according to the master plan by 2020, vision to 2030 approved by the prime minister in 2018) with new airports like Long Thanh, Na San (Son La province), Lai Chau, Sapa, Quang Tri, and Phan Thiet.