Vinh International Airport to increase capacity from 7 to 8 million passengers by 2030

The need to upgrade infrastructure

The reason why Nghe An has to actively invest and accelerate Vinh International Airport is because before the Covid-19 pandemic, Vinh International Airport had reached the threshold and was overloaded when in 2019 it served 13,947 take-offs and landings; in 2020 it served 14,027 take-offs and landings and in total in 2 years there were 4 million passengers passing through.

In fact, normally the port only serves 26-28 flights/day (equivalent to 52-56 take-offs and landings/day), but at times it serves 50 flights, equivalent to 100 take-offs and landings, and from December 2022, the port serves 55 to 60 flights per day, equivalent to 110-120 take-offs and landings, causing congestion.

Passengers check in for flights to the southern region. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Passenger and cargo handling services at Vinh Airport also bring revenue to the port. Photo: Nguyen Hai

In addition to the shortcomings of the runway infrastructure, because the port does not have enough parking spaces for aircraft, when the frequency of flights, takeoffs and landings increases, there is a situation where aircraft have to fly around and cannot land because there is no parking space. Especially since the beginning of February until now, when the fog is thick,number of flights delayed or canceledmore and more make passengers dissatisfied.

On the other hand, due to the harsh weather conditions in Nghe An, the quality of the runway, although newly upgraded, has deteriorated. The port also does not have a parallel taxiway system and aircraft parking area, which has affected the frequency of take-offs and landings.

Therefore, mobilizing resources to invest in upgrading and exploiting port infrastructure is extremely necessary. In particular, if there is a new runway and auxiliary items such as parking lots, warehouses to serve cargo loading and unloading, the port can receive large-bodied aircraft such as A350, B777, B787... to increase competitive advantage compared to other types of transport and other airports.

Passengers arriving at Vinh Airport during the Lunar New Year. Photo: Nguyen Hai

At the working session of the Provincial Party Standing Committee on February 8, the Department of Transport, on behalf of the Provincial People's Committee, reported and presentedProject on socialization of investment and exploitation of Vinh International Airportby 2030 to discuss and agree on a plan to select an investment model to upgrade Vinh International Airport on the basis of management and exploitation of the current infrastructure that Vietnam Airports Corporation is managing and operating.

The Prime Minister surveyed the design for upgrading the infrastructure of Vinh International Airport. Photo: Thanh Duy

Previously, at the October meeting, the Provincial People's Council passed a special resolution for Vinh city to regulate 100% of the provincial budget for land use fees from 4 urban area projects in Vinh city with an amount of 4,000 billion VND to create a source of support for compensation and site clearance for the Vinh International Airport Project and the connecting road from N5 (National Highway 7C) towards Cua Lo Deepwater Port...

Need effective port exploitation solutions

According to the Draft Master Plan for the development of the national airport system for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, submitted by the Ministry of Transport to the Prime Minister, the capacity of Vinh International Airport is expected to be about 8 million passengers/year by 2030; about 14 million passengers/year by 2050.

Passengers get off the airport waiting for shuttle buses to their destinations. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Also according to Mr. Hoang Van Thu - Director of Vinh International Airport: The project of socializing investment and exploitation of Vinh International Airport after being approved by the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee will be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval. However, if everything goes well, the new runway and terminal will be constructed and put into operation by 2030. In the immediate future, to meet the travel needs of people and create a competitive advantage compared to other types of transport, Vinh International Airport is proposing to Vietnam Airlines Corporation (ACV) an investment plan to fully exploit the current infrastructure capacity.

In addition, according to aviation experts, although the current infrastructure does not allow large aircraft such as A350, B777, B787 to land, if the air traffic control tower and the control signal system on the airport are upgraded, large aircraft can also land. Large-bodied aircraft can carry 350-400 passengers/flight, so only 20-30 large flights and 20 small flights/day are needed, the port capacity will be improved, the exploitation efficiency will be higher, thereby attracting businesses to invest in exploitation.

A working delegation of the Government and leaders of Nghe An province surveyed the current status of the runway at Vinh Airport. Photo courtesy

To implement the Project of socializing investment and exploitation of Vinh International Airport, from now until 2030, Vinh International Airport will change from 1 runway to 2 runways. Nghe An plans to mobilize about 5,084 billion VND to clear 115 hectares of land to meet the standards of a level 4E airport according to the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization, with an operating capacity of 7 - 8 million passengers/year. According to the latest information, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has completed the report on planning adjustment and submitted it to the Ministry of Transport to select a plan to build a civil aviation area between the 2 runways of Vinh International Airport.

Specifically, the estimated land area that needs to be cleared to build a civil aviation area between the two runways is about 115 hectares, of which Nghi An commune (Vinh city) is 68.1 hectares, Nghi Truong commune (Nghi Loc) is 43.6 hectares and Nghi Trung commune (Nghi Loc) is 3 hectares. This plan does not affect the area of ​​national defense land as has long been feared.

(Excerpt from the statement of the representative of the Department of Transport).

At the meeting, the representative of the Department of Transport added: To implement the above Project, it is expected that about 850 households in the communes will be affected and have their land recovered. Not including construction costs, the estimated cost of site clearance is about 5,084 billion VND and the province has a plan and roadmap to arrange capital sources.

The representative of Vinh International Airport shared more: In the current operating capacity of the airport, the main infrastructure items of the airport, parking lots, and equipment will be implemented from public investment sources; other items in the new civil aviation area such as the Passenger Terminal, Cargo Terminal, hangar (aircraft maintenance area) and airport area works, including runway 2, taxiways, parking lots... the province has submitted and received approval from the Prime Minister to call for investment resources in the form of PPP (public-private partnership). Hopefully, the province will call for investors to invest and exploit so that the capacity and service quality will be improved dramatically, meeting the increasing travel needs of passengers./.