Early last month the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) submitted plans to expand Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport to the Ministry of Transport for approval.

The work is estimated to cost around 19.35 trillion VND (860 million USD) and is part of the Government’s goals for 2020.

According to the proposal, the airfield’s current runways will remain unchanged, though a new way will be added.

Two quick exit taxiways will be built between the runways, while extra taxiways will be added to facilitate aircraft movement.

The existing apron will be expanded to an area of 19.97 hectares on land belonging to the defence ministry.

Another apron will be built in front of a planned bimodal terminal that will expand Tan Son Nhat’s parking capacity from 83 aircraft to 89 aircraft.

The expansion plan has attracted lots of interest from airport developers.

Lien Thai Binh Duong Import –Export Company (IPP) became the latest investor to join the race to build terminals 3 and 4.  

IPP has been a partner of the CAAV for several years and is also a major shareholder in the Southern Aviation Service Company (SASCO).

The company promises to complete the construction within 18 months if it gets the contract.

Earlier, a joint venture company ATAD Steel Structure Corporation and Nam Viet A Development and Construction Investment Company also submitted a bid to the Ministry of Transport.

However, Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company had been the first to evince interest.

The country’s largest low-cost carrier made a bid to build terminal 4 with a capacity of 10 million passengers a year on a 21 hectare site.

It also wants to set up a 3.048 trillion VND aviation technical services complex on a 30ha site at the airport.

This will include a cargo terminal with capacity of 300,000 tonnes a year, a facility to repair and maintain aircraft and another to provide catering services to airlines.

The Government’s policy of calling for private participation in major infrastructure projects seems to be paying off.

It also indicates the strong growth in the financial and technical capabilities of domestic players, which allows them to bid for large and important infrastructure works.

The plan to expand Tan Son Nhat International Airport’s capacity to 45 million passengers a year is likely to be realised soon, experts said.

VNA