A consortium of local companies Viet Xuan Moi and Duc Binh has proposed developing a new passenger terminal for international flights at Cam Ranh airport in the central province of Khanh Hoa.

The consortium plans to implement the project in the build-operate-transfer (BOT) format at a cost of nearly VND1.98 trillion (around US$91 million). It expects to recover the investment in 21 years, VietnamPlus reports.

The existing 13,995-square-meter terminal at Cam Ranh International Airport can handle 1.6 million passengers a year. But the number of passengers going through the airport was over 1.5 million in 2013 and surpassed two million last year.

The consortium said the waiting area at the airport near Nha Trang City has been overloaded while it takes two to three years to build a new terminal at the international airport.

Therefore, it is urgent to develop a passenger terminal at the airport for international services, Nguyen Thi Quyen, general director of Viet Xuan Moi Joint Stock Co., said on behalf of the consortium.

“The new terminal will enable Cam Ranh airport to have separate handling facilities for domestic and international flights to meet the demand in the coming years.”

In addition to the BOT format, the consortium suggested a plan to set up a joint stock company whose capital will be contributed by Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV). This company will operate the new terminal and provide related services inside and outside the facility when it is in place while ACV operates the exisiting terminal at the airport.

Quyen said private investors would help speed up infrastructure development and improve service quality at Cam Ranh airport and prop up socio-economic development of Khanh Hoa Province.

The consortium said it will work out a prefeasibility study for the terminal project and select contractors in 2015-2016 and will open the new facility by 2018 if it is chosen.

In March this year, Khanh Hoa Province and ACV started work on the second runway at Cam Ranh airport to meet rising demand for air travel to and from the airport. This runway will put into use after 36 months of construction.

The project requires an investment cost of more than VND1.93 trillion, including nearly VND1.43 trillion for construction. Once complete, the 3,048-meter-long, 45-meter-wide runway will be able to handle modern aircraft, including Airbus A320 and Boeing B737 and B777-200ER.

The key projects authority of Khanh Hoa Province is the investor of the runway project.

Cam Ranh airport was opened to domestic commercial passenger flights in 2004 and became an international airport in 2009 as approved by the Government. A new terminal was built to better serve passengers at the airport.

Currently, Cam Ranh airport handles both domestic and international flights.