VietNamNet Bridge - The Phu Quoc International Airport will be leased to Vietnamese businesses under operation and maintenance contracts for 30 years.

The biggest change in the project on leasing the airport of ACV (Airports Corporation of Vietnam) is that the concept ‘commercial concession’ has been replaced by ‘leasing’, according to Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam.

Phu Quoc Airport now ranks fifth of all airports  in Vietnam in terms of revenue.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) announced it was considering offering concessions to investors in Phu Quoc airport and part of Noi Bai airport in an aim to attract capital to other airport projects. This was part of a plan to call for public capital to develop airport infrastructure.

Meanwhile, MOT, in a document to the Communist Party’s Politburo in May 2015, the word ‘commercial concession’ was still used.

Explaining the change, an expert said that “leasing" was the right word to describe the nature of the deal: businesses lease  infrastructure items at Phu Quoc Airport from the State. 

This also is in line with the government’s Decree No 15 on private public partnership (PPP) management. The State will sign O&M (operation & maintenance) contracts with investors on parts of or the entire infrastructure works for certain periods.

ACV will only lease assets associated with the leased land, excluding the parking lots, for 30 years.

Investors have to pay a leasing fee calculated on the basis of the passenger service fee. 

The rental would be set by ACV based on the analyses of the investment value, cash flow, exploitation costs and expected profits in the future.

Rental of Phu Quoc airport ACV will be based on the investment value analysis, sales cash flow, extraction costs and profits in the future. This value must also ensure that operators maintain flight zones and investment plans for expansion of the airport. 

Dau Tu newspaper quoted an ACV senior official as saying that professional institutions would be invited to assess the infrastructure value to set the rental.

Only Vietnamese businesses will have the right to lease the airport for exploitation as initially planned. Businesses will be chosen in accordance with Decree No 30 released on March 17, 2015, which guides the implementation of the Bidding Law.

The newspaper also quoted Lai Xuan Thanh, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), as saying that there were still some issues that need to be clarified about the project. For example, it is necessary to define the infrastructure sphere for leasing and the policy on passenger service fee increases.

Kim Chi