Deputy Prime Minister finalizes investment plan of nearly 20,000 billion to expand Tan Son Nhat

Mr. Trinh Dinh Dung chose the option of expanding Tan Son Nhat airport on the available land of the army with an investment capital of nearly 20,000 billion VND, to be built in 3 years.

On January 20, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung met with leaders of the Ministries of National Defense, Transport, Construction, the Government Office, and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport to find solutions to resolve traffic congestion at Tan Son Nhat Airport.

Tan Son Nhat airport planning scheme. Photo VNE

At this meeting, the consulting unit, the Aviation Construction Design and Consulting Company (ADCC) under the Air Defense - Air Force, presented three options for adjusting the planning of Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

According to option 3, the consulting unit proposed to build parallel taxiways and taxiways connecting the runway and the apron; renovate the current northern runway (route 25L/07R); build a dual-use terminal T3 with a capacity of 10 million passengers/year, and build a passenger terminal T4 with a capacity of 10 million passengers/year in the area south of the current airport.

This plan uses the available land fund of the army, so the cost is about 19,700 billion VND, construction time is 3 years, ensuring capacity of 43-45 million passengers/year.

Leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport reported on plans to divert traffic and build 8 traffic works to ease congestion at Tan Son Nhat Airport and drainage and flood prevention projects for the airport area. The Ministry of National Defense agreed in principle and allocated land for the Ministry of Transport to invest in building a regulating lake of about 1.3 hectares.

After listening to the discussion, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung affirmed that the adjustment of planning and upgrading of Tan Son Nhat International Airport is very urgent, therefore ministries, branches, and Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee must be really determined and speed up the implementation of assigned tasks. The Deputy Prime Minister also agreed to choose option 3 from the above options to complete soon and report to the Prime Minister before February 25.

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung requested urgent expansion of Tan Son Nhat airport. Photo VNE

The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Transport to direct the consulting unit to review and complete the planning, including arranging the technical area in the North, parallel taxiways and quick exit taxiways, passenger terminal area, parking area, traffic system connecting the airport with the outside, and drainage system. At the same time, proactively classify projects, determine the structure of investment capital to expand and upgrade the airport.

“Taxiways and parking lots will use state capital and be implemented by state-owned enterprises; passenger terminals, service areas, etc. will call for investment from socialized capital; traffic routes connecting to the outside will be implemented with investment capital from the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee,” the Deputy Prime Minister directed.

Mr. Dung also assigned the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to effectively implement projects to combat traffic congestion, invest in infrastructure, and connect the city center to the airport to facilitate people.

Previously, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung issued a “task” requiring the authorities to plan and upgrade Tan Son Nhat airport to ensure 40-50 million passengers/year. Currently, Tan Son Nhat airport’s capacity by 2020 is 25 million passengers, but in reality it is serving 28 million passengers/year.

According to VNE