VietNamNet Bridge – It is expected that by 2020, the number of passengers through HCM City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport will reach 25 million annually, equivalent to the maximum capacity of the airport.

Long Thanh Airport project awaits investment

Tan Son Nhat Airport.

This information was released by Mr. Lai Xuan Thanh, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) at a workshop on the assessment of the Long Thanh international airport project in Dong Nai Province this morning.

Officials of the Ministry of Transport and the CAAV confirmed the need to develop a transit airport in Vietnam, especially in the southern key economic region. The Long Thanh international airport will be completed after 2020 when Tan Son Nhat is overloaded.

When in place, Long Thanh will replace Tan Son Nhat as Vietnam’s biggest international airport and become a major air transport hub in Southeast Asia. From 2020 to 2035, Long Thanh will be able to handle up to 90% of the international flights and 20% domestic services in the south.

A report of the CAAV said that the growth of passengers at the local airports in the period of 2002 - 2012 was 14.5 percent on average. The Vietnam Airlines Corporation earned pre-tax profit of VND1.92 trillion ($96 million) in 2012.

In particular, Tan Son Nhat Airport ranked second after Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi for the volume of goods and the number of passengers, reaching a growth rate of 30 percent of passengers and 35 percent of cargo last year.

To meet the growth of the market, the Prime Minister approved a plan to develop 26 airports by 2020, including 10 international airports and 16 domestic airports.

Currently, the civil aviation sector operates 21 airports, including seven international and 14 domestic airports.

Na Son