Long Thanh will ease the burden on the overloaded Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

The CNN said with a growing number of visitors to the country, and the national carrier, Vietnam Airlines, growing its operations, the government has brought forward construction of a new airport to replace the cramped, outdated facilities at Ho Chi Minh City's existing airport. 

Long Thanh International Airport will be located 25 miles to the east of Ho Chi Minh City, with an eventual capacity for 100 million passengers per year. It's expected to open in 2025.

According to the Ministry of Transport, Long Thanh is expected to take on 85 percent of international flights running through Tan San Nhat Airport, including those operated by the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and foreign airlines.

The Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) on June 2 this year signed a contract with a joint venture comprising firms from Japan, France and Vietnam (JFV), for consultancy services and a feasibility study for the first phase of Long Thanh International Airport project.

The JFV joint venture gathers top consulting and design firms with years of experience in the airport construction industry, including Japan Airport Consultants (JAC), ADP Ingénierie from France, Nippon Koei and Oriental Consultants Global from Japan and Airport Design and Construction Consultancy (ADCC) and Transport Engineering Design (TEDI) from Vietnam.

The feasibility study is carried out from June 2018 to June 2019 and will be submitted to the National Assembly for review in October 2019, said ACV Chairman of the Board Lai Xuan Thanh at the signing ceremony.

In March, the Ministry of Transport selected the lotus design developed by Heerim Architects and Planners from the Republic of Korea for the project.

The ACV is preparing for the construction of the airport to begin at the end of 2020. The airport will be completed and put into use in 2025 at the latest.

The proposed Long Thanh International Airport has a total area of more than 5,580 hectares in Long Thanh district, the southern province of Dong Nai. It is set to have total investment of 336.63 trillion VND (14.8 billion USD). 

Other airport projects on the list include the Singapore Changi Airport, LaGuardia Airport in New York, Beijing Daxing International Airport, New International Airport for Mexico City, and Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt, among others.-VNA