Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung has asked the Ministry of Transport to form a panel of experts from various disciplines to choose the optimal design from the three shortlisted ones for Long Thanh Airport.

A shortlisted design for Long Thanh Airport

The deputy PM said on March 13 that the final decision must be based on objective assessments by top experts in transport, architecture, planning, aeronautics, culture and the environment.

The panel must take the task seriously in a responsible manner, but should not be perfectionist in order to avoid lengthy debate without consensus, Deputy PM Dung requested.

He added that a detailed report on their discussion and the optimal choice should be submitted in ten days before a final decision is made by the Prime Minister.

Deputy PM Dung said that Long Thanh Airport is an important national transport project and is also intended to display the image of a friendly and modernised Vietnam and that as such, the foremost criteria must be functionality and efficiency.

Other criteria include low cost, energy efficiency and environmental friendliness, as well as bearing the characteristics of the Vietnamese culture both in terms of architecture, the interior and the exterior.

According to the Ministry of Transport, among the three shortlisted designs, the one featuring the mangrove palm received the highest score from the ministry’s own panel of judges.

The other two designs are modelled after the lotus flower and the bamboo tree.

Long Thanh, to be constructed in Dong Nai Province, is planned to become the main airport serving Ho Chi Minh City, to replace Tan Son Nhat, which has been facing capacity overloading in recent years.

Nhan Dan