VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City authorities have sent a written request of the constituents of Tan Binh district, HCM City to the Ministry of Transport on the construction of the Long Thanh international airport. The city also asked the Ministry of Transport to reply before April 25.

According to the HCM City City People's Committee, Tan Binh District’s voters disagreed with the construction of the Long Thanh airport in Dong Nai province because the country is still poor and the Tan Son Nhat airport is not fully used.

They continued to propose the relevant authorities to clear the golf course in the area of Tan Son Nhat airport to expand the airport.

At the last session of the National Assembly in 2013, National Assembly deputies questioned the Prime Minister on the construction of Long Thanh airport. Answering deputies, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said the expansion of Tan Son Nhat airport to increase its capacity to 30-40 million passengers a year is expensive, unfeasible and it is necessary to build the Long Thanh airport to replace the Tan Son Nhat airport in the future.

The Long Thanh International Airport project was approved by the Prime Minister in 2005. It covers an area of about 25,000 ha in six communes of Dong Nai. As planned, the construction process will be divided into 3 phases. In phase 1 (2014 - 2020), Long Thanh will have a capacity of 25 million passengers per year with 2 runways. In phase 2 (2020 - 2030) it will have a capacity of 50 million passengers and in phase 3 (after 2030) the capacity will reach 100 million passengers per year with four runways. The total investment is about $ 8 billion, including nearly $6 billion in phase 1.

According to the Long Thanh airport investor, the capital for the new airport is estimated at about $7.8 billion compared to $9.1 billion for the expansion of Tan Son Nhat Airport.

Thu Phuong