The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Transport (MoT) on adjusting plans to expand Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport, increasing capacity to 43-45 million passengers a year and creating 80-85 aircraft parking slots.

Total investment with the adjusted planning will remain at VND19.3 trillion ($849.2 million), mobilized from various sources such as State capital, corporate capital, and loans.

The two current runways of the airport will be preserved, with a passenger terminal, T4, with capacity of 15 million passengers, to be added.

In terms of capital mobilization, CAAV proposed MoT direct Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) to be the investor for runways and taxiways. ACV will advance the investment capital and then be refunded by the State budget.

The CAAV plan is based on the planning scheme of the Ministry of Defense’s Airport Design and Construction Consultancy One Member Limited Liability Company (ADCC).

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung emphasized the need to finalize the plan to upgrade Tan Son Nhat at a working session with ADCC on February 8.

Important requirements for the renovation and upgrade of the airport include promptly tackling bottlenecks and overloading, facilitating upgrades to infrastructure by 2018, mobilizing capital for the project, and improving the efficiency and quality of investment, in addition to ensuring construction quality, safety, and aviation security.

In early March, Vietcombank proposed it finance all of ACV’s lending needs in expanding capacity at Tan Son Nhat, in the form of independent financing or the focal arrangement of capital.

Vietcombank Chairman Nghiem Xuan Thanh said that the expansion is a key project that will not only bring about higher economic efficiency but also many socio-political benefits.

Tan Son Nhat welcomed over 32 million passengers last year while its capacity is only 25 million.

It is expected that over 35 million passengers will pass through the airport this year. Forty-four airlines fly in and out, including four domestic airlines and 40 international carriers.

Figures from CAAV show that more than 20,000 flights, or 15.8 per cent, were delayed in the first six months of 2016, up from 15 per cent in the same period of 2015. 

Tan Son Nhat has more problems to deal with apart from rapid passenger growth, however, with flooding on the tarmac and traffic congestion on the streets outside causing chronic delays.

VN Economic Times