The completion and appraisal of the feasibility study for the site clearance project for Long Thanh International Airport in the southern province of Dong Nai is behind schedule, according to a government report.

An artist’s impression of the palm-leaf design of Long Thanh International Airport, which is to be developed in the southern province of Dong Nai 

The Government had sent the report on the execution of the airport project to the National Assembly for discussion at the sixth sitting of the legislative body.

The People’s Committee of Dong Nai acts as an investor for the site clearance project, part of the main airport project. The sub-project, running from 2017 to 2021, requires a total investment of more than VND22.8 trillion (US$980 million).

The site clearance project must acquire some 5,000 hectares of land to make room for the airport and more than 364 extra hectares to build two resettlement sites.

As a result, some 4,800 local households and 26 organizations are to be relocated. Roughly 70% of the 15,500 affected people are farmers, and the rest are rubber workers or work for other sectors.

The feasibility study has been delayed because there are no specific regulations for the job, and there is no precedent for the provincial government to consider in making the study. The local authority was also finding it difficult to finish the environmental impact report for the site clearance project.

The majority of the land handed over to the Ministry of Transport is a 1,000-hectare rubber plantation owned by Dong Nai Rubber Corporation and nearly 20 local households. The acquisition is expected to be completed late next year.

The ministry will then conduct bomb and landmine clearance and other relevant works before the airport is constructed.

If Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approves the feasibility study for the site clearance project, the provincial government will immediately begin demolition and site clearance works to pave the way for the airport project, develop the resettlement areas, provide human resources training and create jobs for local residents.

The airport is designed to handle up to 100 million passengers and five million tons of cargo on an annual basis when the three construction phases are complete.

In phase one, the airport will have one runway and one passenger terminal able to handle 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo per year by 2025.

The second runway and terminal will be built in the second phase to increase the airport’s annual capacity to 50 million passengers and 1.5 million tons of cargo.

The project costs an estimated VND336.6 trillion, or US$16.03 billion, with VND114.5 trillion for the first phase, based on the 2014 exchange rate between the Vietnamese dong and the U.S. dollar.

The funding will come from the State budget, official development assistance loans, the private sector, proceeds from the equitization of State-owned enterprises and other sources.

Long Thanh Airport expected to assume 85 percent international flights

Long Thanh International Airport project is expected to undertake 85 percent of international flights including flights of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and foreign airlines, said the Ministry of Transport yesterday.

That is according to the exploitation plan between Long Thanh and Tan Son Nhat International Airports proposed by consultant firms at a recent meeting with the ministry.

As per plan, Long Thanh Airport will assume 12 percent of domestic flights of Vietnam Airlines from HCMC to Hanoi and Da Nang.

Other airlines such as Vietjet Air, Jetstar Pacific and Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO) will operate in Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam and Airports Corporation of Vietnam have asked airlines to leave comments on the exploitation plan to complete it.

The pre-feasibility study report of Long Thanh Airport is scheduled to be done in March next year.

SGT/SGGP