The Government urged the State Appraisal Council to promptly complete the assessment of a feasibility study report for the first phase of Long Thanh International Airport in a resolution issued on February 3.

Long Thanh International Airport. (Photo: ACV) 

The State Appraisal Council is required to ensure the quality of the assessment report which must be submitted to the Prime Minister for review in March, the resolution says.

The Government has decided to expand the total land area acquired for the project’s first phase from 1,165 hectares to 1,810 hectares.

The resolution also notes that the selection of investment form must take into account national defence and security, the State and national interests; and guarantee the State’s management in compliance with current laws.

The Long Thanh International Airport, situated near its namesake township in the southern province of Dong Nai, is a national key project. Once fully operational, the airport is expected to reduce the load on the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City and become a major international aviation hub in the region.

The project is made up of three investment phases with the ultimate goal of making the airport capable of serving 100 million passengers and handling 5 million tonnes of cargo annually.

The project’s first phase costs an estimated 111.69 trillion VND or about 4.78 billion USD. In this phase, one runway and one terminal along with other components will be built to handle 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo a year. It is scheduled to be put into use in 2025 at the latest.

According to the Government’s plan, the State-owned Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) will be the investor and operator of the airport, who will use its own capital to invest in the construction of the State management administrative building and essential component buildings of the airport.