Construction of Phan Thiet airport in Thien Nghiep commune, Phan Thiet city, in the southern coastal province of Binh Thuan will commence in January, according to the provincial People’s Committee.

Nguyen Ngoc, Vice Chairman of the committee, said an airport is crucial to boosting the province’s socio-economic development, saying that the project is expected to attract more investors and tourists to the province.

Phan Thiet airport will be the first BOT (build-operation-transfer) project the field in Vietnam with an initial cost of about 5.6 trillion VND (263.2 million USD) .It covers a total area of 543 hectares with a 2,400m runway and a 5,000sq.m terminal.

Once the first phase of construction is completed, scheduled for 2020, the airport will accommodate 300 passengers each hour, or 5,000 per year, and handle 10,000 tonnes of goods annually.

At the end of the second phase of construction in 2030, the airport will be capable of serving 1 million passengers and 50,000 tonnes of goods every year.

According to the Binh Thuan Department of Transport, about 60 percent of the ground clearance work for the project has finished.

Once completed, the airport will offer flights between Phan Thiet and Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Cam Ranh in Khanh Hoa province, Buon Ma Thuot in Dak Lak, Phu Quoc in Kien Giang, and Da Nang city.

VNA