Expansion plan for Vietnam’s largest airport gets tweaked
The Ministry of Transport has approved amendments to the expansion plan for Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat Airport.
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| A view of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Xuan Hoa |
The plan, which lists targets until 2020 with orientation towards 2030, includes the addition of a third terminal and a 250 hectare expansion of the airport’s area.
Specifically, the airport's total area will be increased from the current 545 hectares (1,350 acres) to 791 hectares.
Of this, 19 hectares currently used for parking will be taken from the defense ministry, and 18 hectares jointly managed by the defense ministry and civil aviation authorities. Another 35 hectares of land south of the airport and 171 hectares to the north will be added.
The plan will construct a new terminal, T3, to the south with a capacity of 20 million passengers per year. It will also expand existing terminals T1 and T2, raising their combined capacity to 30 million passengers per year.
The aircraft parking lot in front of the new terminal would also be expanded to add 56 more parking spaces, raising the total to 106 spaces. Current air field and runways would remain unchanged but three parallel taxiways and five rapid exit taxiways will be added to connect the runways.
The Hoang Hoa Tham and Than Nhan Trung streets will be widened to accommodate four lanes each, while the 18E Road will be widened to have 4-6 lanes.
An overpass connecting Hoang Van Thi Park with the Chao Lua Soccer Field and another connecting the airport's terminal T2 with Phan Thuc Duyen Street are being considered.
The plan’s investment roadmap would prioritize the construction of terminal T3, parking lots, roads and supporting structures to the south of the current airport, work on which will start immediately.
In the northern area, the prioritized structures will be water reservoirs and pumping stations to combat flooding.
Meanwhile, work on expanding the roads leading to the airport would start once it is ensured that the plan is in accordance with the city's traffic plans.
The ministry has tasked the Civil Aviation Administration with announcing, managing and implementing the plan.
The entire plan is set to be made public later this month.
The Tan Son Nhat Airport currently handles 36 million passengers per year, which is way above its designed capacity of 25 million, prompting the government to plan its expansion.
The ministry hired French consulting firm ADPi to work on the plan alongside local firms. ADPi's proposed plan was approved by the prime minister in March and it formed the basis for the new, detailed version.
