Three major airports need $5b for upgrades

More than VND116 trillion (US$5 billion) is needed to build Long Thanh airport and upgrade Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports for the 2018-21 period, with a vision to 2025, according to the State-owned Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) investment plan. -VNA/VNS Photo Trong Dat

The number of passengers coming through 22 airports nationwide managed and operated by ACV is expected to grow 10 per cent each year between 2018 and 2021 and is estimated to reach about 137 million by 2021.

Annual passenger growth rate between 2022 and 2025 is estimated to average 7 per cent, hitting 185 million by 2025.

Based on these numbers, ACV estimated investment on the three key airports.

During 2018-21, Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi will expand international terminal T2 to reach capacity of 15 million passengers per year and terminal T3 with capacity of 10 million passengers per year, while upgrading parking areas and supporting facilities. The upgrade looks to enable the airport to serve 30 million passengers across all terminals by 2020 and 60 million by 2030.

The total estimated investment for the upgrade is nearly VND11.2 trillion ($487 million).

Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City needs over VND12.6 trillion ($548 million) to improve its capacity. Terminal T3 is planned to be constructed to serve 10 million passengers per year, along with an expansion of parking areas, runways and assisting equipment. The airport expects to welcome 45 million passengers per year by 2020.

Long Thanh Airport in the southern province of Dong Nai is in need of over VND92.1 trillion ($4 billion) for the first phase of its construction by 2025.

The construction project includes building one runway, one passenger terminal and other supporting facilities to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo per year.

In a related move, the Ministry of Transport submitted a report to the Government on the plan to use capital to upgrade runways at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat international airports.

According to the report, the ministry agreed to allow ACV to mobilise over VND1.9 trillion ($82.6 million) and VND2.3 trillion ($100 million) to invest in Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai airports, respectively.