The People’s Committee of Hai Phong City has proposed to build the second passenger terminal at Cat Bi International Airport by using public private partnership (PPP) funds in combination with other forms of investment.

This proposal was submitted to the Government Office, ministries and agencies to ask for the Prime Minister's approval for the committee to carry out the project, according to the news portal of the port city.

Cat Bi Airport plays a key role in the growth of Hai Phong and northern coastal provinces

Cat Bi is an international air gateway that plays a key role in the socio-economic development strategy of Hai Phong and the country’s northern coastal region. The airport’s current terminal was inaugurated in May 2016.

Over the past years, the number of passengers in Cat Bi international Airport has increased significantly. In the period from 2013 to 2017, the average number of passengers rose by 26.8 per cent and the cargo output increased by 20 per cent.

Only in 2017, the airport welcomed 2.3 million passengers, nearly 29 per cent higher than in 2016. This figure is expected to continue to grow steadily at a high level in the coming years as airlines have plans to expand the flight network and increase the frequency of existing routes to and from Cat Bi.

The construction of the second passenger terminal in the Cat Bi International Airport that could be operated at the beginning of 2020 is very necessary and urgent as the number of passengers passing through the airport is growing rapidly and reached its designed capacity in 2017.

It is estimated that Cat Bi International Airport will serve about 4.5 - 5 million passengers a year by 2020. The figure for 2025 is expected to reach about 8 - 8.5 million passengers.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) is supporting Hai Phong authorities to accelerate the second phase of the Cat Bi International Airport expansion project. In this phase, a parallel runway is under construction.

In 2016, a project to expand Cat Bi International Airport with a total investment of more than VND5 trillion (US$220 million) was completed. Its main feature is a new terminal that has a capacity for 2 million passengers per year.

In early May this year, the CAAV approved the proposal to build a second terminal, which will be able to serve 8 million passengers by 2025.

Earlier, at the meeting with leaders of Hai Phong in June last year, the Prime Minister agreed with the construction of the second passenger terminal. Also, the Ministry of Transport was assigned to expeditiously complete the adjustment master plan for Cat Bi International Airport and coordinate with Hai Phong city in proposing plans on the investment and the use of non-state budget capital.

According to a draft on the country’s aviation development till 2020, with a vision to 2030, the aviation industry will exploit 23 airports with an annual traffic of 144 million passengers by 2020 and 28 airports with an annual traffic of 308 million passengers by 2030.

It is forecast that the transport of passengers via domestic airlines will increase at an average rate of 16% annually from now until 2020 and by 8 per cent during 2020-2030. Meanwhile, the transport of goods is expected to grow at an annual rate of 18% from now until 2020 and at 12% annually during 2020-2030.

The domestic airlines are expected to reach a volume of 64 million passengers every year by 2020 and 131 million annually by 2030. 

This growth rate is 2-4% higher than the current plan and is also higher than the average growth of the global aviation industry.

Hanoi Times