The 2-year maximum completion time is one of the requirements that the deputy PM has asked the Ministry of Transport to set down in its plan to increase the capacity of the sole airport serving Ho Chi Minh City.
Tan Son Nhat has been severely strained in recent years as it has had to handle a number of passengers exceeding its design capacity of 25 million a year.
The airport already served 26.5 million passengers in 2015, 32 million in 2016 and an estimated 36 million in 2017.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has predicted that Tan Son Nhat’s passenger throughput will reach between 50 and 65 million in 2025.
Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung said the expansion of Tan Son Nhat must take into account the development of other airports in the southern region, especially Long Thanh International Airport scheduled to open in 2025 at the earliest.
Long Thanh, located in Ho Chi Minh City’s neighbouring province of Dong Nai, has been designed to eventually replace Tan Son Nhat in the future.
In November last year, the National Assembly approved VND23 trillion (US$1 billion) for a site clearance project for Long Thanh Airport, which is scheduled for completion by 2021.
The plan for the Tan Son Nhat expansion is required to be finalised and reported to the Prime Minister before January 15.
Tan Son Nhat Airport expansion must be completed within 1-2 years
The expansion of Tan Son Nhat International Airport must be completed within one to two years, according to an instruction by Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung.
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| Tan Son Nhat Airport |
