Latest on the Long Thanh International Airport
A total of 1,810 hectares and 722 hectares of reserve land dedicated to Long Thanh International Airport’s first phase have reportedly been handed over to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam. This comes following the successful completion of site clearance and grave relocation as well as resettlement works.
The construction of the airport can now begin as scheduled. ACV has already awarded a couple of contracts for the implementation of the project. A Vietnam-Turkey (Vietur) consortium led by IC Istas construction firm for example was awarded a US$ 1.45 billion contract. Ricons, Newtecons and Sol E&C are some of the Vietnamese companies that make up the consortium.
South Korea’s Heerim Architects & Planners has also signed a construction-phase supervision and advisory contract for the Long Thanh International Airport passenger terminal. The company will reportedly be responsible for the terminal design inspection and supervision during the construction phase.
Noteworthy, Heerim was previously awarded the international conceptual design for the Long Thanh International Airport passenger terminal in 2018. The South Korean firm performed the basic design work for a period of 12 months. In 2021, the architecture firm also secured and completed a detailed design contract for this project.
The construction-phase supervision and advisory contract for the Long Thanh International Airport passenger terminal is valued at US$ 21.4 million.
Long Thanh International Airport Project Overview
Long Thanh International Airport is an over 100 million passenger per year capacity airport under construction on 5,000ha of land located approximately 45km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, in Long Thanh, Dong Nai province, in Southern Vietnam.
The project is being implemented in three phases (Phase 1, 2, and 3).
The first phase is divided into three sub-phases (Phase 1A, 1B, and 1C). Phase 1A includes the construction of a four-storey, lotus flower-shaped terminal with a total floor area of 399,987 m2 and a single runway. Upon the completion of this sub-phase, the Long Thanh International Airport shall have the capacity to handle a total of 17 million passengers per year.
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The airport terminal shall be expanded and consequently, its capacity increased to 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo P/A in phase 1B, under which a second runway shall also be constructed. In the last sub-phase (phase 1C), all facilities necessary for the operation of the airport shall be built following which the airport to commence operations.
The whole of the first phase of Long Thanh International Airport is estimated to cost US$ 7.8bn to complete.
Implementation of phases 2 and 3 of the Long Thanh International Airport
Reportedly, land clearance for phases 2 and 3 shall begin immediately after the completion of phase 1 of the Long Thanh International Airport. Under these phases, the Long Thanh International Airport capacity shall be doubled to 50 million passengers per annum.
The third runway shall be constructed between 2025 and 2035. After 2035, a fourth runway shall be built and the airport capacity increased to reach its maximum designed capacity of 80-100 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo per year.
The construction of the entire Long Thanh International Airport will cost approximately, US$ 18.7bn as per 2014 estimates. This makes it the most expensive infrastructure project in the history of Vietnam.
Long Thanh International Airport project timeline
January 2021
On the fifth day of the month, the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) began work on the first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport project.
July 2021
Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport (MoT) announced that Long Thanh International Airport’s site clearance work was around 50% completed with approximately 1200ha out of 2532ha recovered.
September 2021
The Airports Corporation of Vietnam had conducted around 65% of the bomb and mine clearance work, which was expected to be complete in December 2021. This would make land available for the construction of the passenger terminal’s foundations in February 2022. The terminal building is due to be completed in June 2025, with an air traffic control tower to be built between January 2023 and January 2025.
November 2021
Vietnam’s Minister of Transport (MoT) announced that over the past 11 months, the Airports Corporation of Vietnam had managed to complete 75% of a 9km fencing system around the airport and 75% of bomb and mine detection and clearance work.
March 2022
Preparation works for Long Thanh International Airport construction get underway
Over 1,000 engineers and workers are operating a total number of 600 machines and vehicles to level the ground and build a drainage system for the construction of Vietnam’s Biggest Airport, the Long Thanh Airport, which borders Ho Chi Minh City in Dong Nai Province.
The designated land mainly consists of red basalt soil that makes the entire construction site to be covered in dust. Every worker is therefore expected to wear protection which includes glasses and masks according to Le Xuan Thuy.
Also Read: Phase 1 construction of Long Thanh International Airport, Vietnam’s largest, to begin in Aug 2023
To decrease the volume of dust in the air, a truck sprays water, this also creates suitable conditions for the rollers to compress the ground better.
The deputy director of Vietnam’s Biggest Airport project management board, Nguyen Khac Phong revealed that by next month, they would be able to hand over a clear site for the construction of the passenger terminals.
The project began in January last year, following years and years of length land acquisitions and preparations. In February this year, after approximately a year of work, only demining and fencing had been done to completion. This caused Pham Minh Chinh, the Prime Minister to express dissatisfaction with the project’s progress.
The project’s slowed pace is however attributed to Dong Hai province’s delay in the handing over of cleared and prepared designated land for the project.
