Airports operator promises to finish Long Thanh airport 6 months early

Lai Xuan Thanh, the company’s chairman, said almost all the land needed for the airport – in Dong Nai Province next to Ho Chi Minh City – has been received and so the construction is continuing apace.

The National Assembly and government have tasked his company (ACV) with finishing the first phase of the project by December 2025, but it is likely to reach the finish line six months early, he said.

In the past year ACV has detected and removed mines and built fences around the airport site.

Right after the Lunar New Year holiday, which lasts until Feb. 6, some key work like leveling the ground and building the foundation would begin, Thanh said.

Amid the pandemic, the company, which manages 22 airports across the country, has seen business slump spectacularly, with profits falling from several trillion dong a year (1 trillion dong = $44 million) to a few hundred billions.

But the investment in the airport, budgeted at VND36 trillion ($1.6 billion), would not be affected, Thanh assured.

The State Capital Management Committee and the State Bank of Vietnam have agreed in principle to lend in foreign currency to businesses to build the airport, and ACV is working with banks to draw up detailed plans, he said.

Long Thanh, set to replace HCMC’s Tan Son Nhat airport as Vietnam’s largest when completed, will have an annual capacity of 100 million passengers and five million tons of cargo.