The West upgrades and expands a series of airports to 'open the sky'

Terminal T2 of Phu Quoc airport was proposed by a Singaporean consultant to be designed with inspiration from the image of a phoenix spreading its wings and flying up.

Not only Kien Giang, but also some other localities in the West are rushing to upgrade and expand airports, projects that have been continuously directed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, in order to create new momentum for socio -economic breakthroughs in the coming time.

Urgently upgrade Phu Quoc airport

During holidays, when the number of domestic and international tourists is high, Phu Quoc International Airport becomes overloaded, and passengers have to spend time waiting to complete immigration procedures.

To achieve the "dual goal" of both welcoming APEC 2027 and developing sustainable tourism , Kien Giang province is speeding up related work to upgrade and expand this airport and Rach Gia airport.

Mr. Tran Minh Khoa - Chairman of Phu Quoc City People's Committee - said that Phu Quoc authorities have taken drastic measures to prepare conditions to upgrade and expand Phu Quoc International Airport.

"We have surveyed, placed coordinates, and drilled geology to prepare for opening projects at Phu Quoc airport such as extending the first runway, building a second runway, adding terminals, parking lots, aprons, and especially an airport VIP lounge to meet the standards to welcome heads of state attending APEC 2027," said Mr. Khoa.

The Department of Agriculture and Environment of Kien Giang province said it has a plan to organize land acquisition, compensation, support, resettlement and site clearance and prepare materials and minerals to implement strategic projects and works in the area, including the Phu Quoc airport expansion project.

This agency also assigned the Center for Natural Resources and Environment Engineering to coordinate with the land office to conduct measurements and develop plans; requested the People's Committee of Phu Quoc City to coordinate with relevant units to determine land prices, review land origins and soon complete the resettlement area, initially ensuring the arrangement of about 2,000 resettlement plots for construction projects to welcome APEC 2027.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nhan - Chairman of Kien Giang Provincial People's Committee - said that the locality has identified 18 public investment projects and 12 private investment projects to be implemented to serve APEC 2027.

Relevant departments in the province are actively coordinating with the People's Committee of Phu Quoc City to urgently carry out many tasks in parallel such as adjusting planning, implementing compensation, and clearing land to implement the project to welcome APEC 2027, including the important project to upgrade and expand Phu Quoc airport.

"I require departments to update weekly reports to see how far the work has gone, what stages have been completed, and if there are any problems, they must be reported immediately so that the provincial leaders can promptly resolve them," said Mr. Nhan.

Ca Mau airport model. After construction is completed, this airport will have a capacity of 500,000 passengers/year - Photo: ACV

More than 2,400 billion VND to expand and upgrade Ca Mau airport

In October 2024, when the Prime Minister agreed to allow Ca Mau province to implement the project to expand and upgrade Ca Mau airport, ensuring the exploitation of A320 and A321 aircraft with a total investment of about 2,400 billion VND, creating a new opportunity for this locality to take off has begun.

According to the design, the scale of the new Ca Mau airport project will build a new runway (size 2,400 x 45m); build a taxiway connecting the runway with the aircraft parking lot; build an aircraft parking lot in the southern area; renovate and expand the existing passenger terminal to a capacity of 500,000 passengers/year, which can be expanded to 1 million passengers/year.

After the airport expansion investment policy was approved, the government and people of Ca Mau actively coordinated to reclaim and hand over more than 105 hectares of land in the project area. Specifically, to date, more than 40 hectares of land belonging to 469 households and 3 organizations in Ca Mau City have been handed over with a total compensation of more than 363 billion VND.

According to Mr. Tang Vu Em - Vice Chairman of Ca Mau City People's Committee, up to now, the compensation and site clearance work for the Ca Mau Airport expansion and upgrade project has met the progress of site handover for Vietnam Airports Corporation to start the project.

Mr. Lam Van Bi - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ca Mau province - said that along with systematic planning, investment in expanding the terminal and runway system for the airport to accommodate larger aircraft, the locality also focuses on investing in road traffic routes to connect with provinces in the Mekong Delta region and the whole country.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung and leaders of Kien Giang province surveyed the upgrading and expansion of Phu Quoc airport - Photo: CHI CONG

Phu Quoc airport overloaded, infrastructure not meeting demand

In the first 3 months of 2025, Phu Quoc welcomed about 2 million visitors. Tourism businesses in Phu Quoc predict that the number of international visitors to this island will continue to be bustling when nearly 200 domestic and foreign travel agencies (Chinese famtrip groups and domestic travel famtrip groups in the North) come to survey tourism and plan to design many new tours to serve tourists.

"Phu Quoc still has weak transport infrastructure. We observe that the roads on the island are still limited and need to be expanded and paved to make them more beautiful, especially upgrading and expanding Phu Quoc airport to welcome international visitors more conveniently," said Mr. Do Trong Hiep, member of the executive committee of the Vietnam Tourism Association and chairman of the Thai Nguyen Province Tourism Association.

Mr. Le Hoang Chau - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association - said that Phu Quoc being chosen as the host of the APEC Summit Week 2027 is a great opportunity to affirm its position and become a leading tourist destination in Southeast Asia of world class.

Upgrading and expanding Phu Quoc airport and Rach Gia airport is an important strategy to welcome international visitors.

Increase Phu Quoc airport's operating capacity to 10 million passengers/year

On April 15, 2025, the Ministry of Construction issued a decision on the planning of Phu Quoc International Airport for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, with a total land use area of ​​about 1,050.1 hectares.

Accordingly, in the period 2021 - 2030, the operating capacity of this airport will be increased (from 4 million passengers/year) to about 10 million passengers/year and 25,000 tons of cargo/year, with the operating aircraft types being B747, B787, A350 and equivalent.

By 2050, the airport's operating capacity will be increased to about 18 million passengers/year and 500,000 tons of cargo/year with operating aircraft types such as B747, B787, A350 and equivalent.

In the period of 2021 - 2030, the parking lot in front of the T2 passenger terminal will be planned and the existing parking lot will be expanded to accommodate about 30 aircraft parking positions, with the possibility of expansion in the reserved land for parking lot development; the parking lot in the VIP guest house/general aviation area will be planned to ensure synchronous operation. By 2050, the parking lot will be expanded to accommodate about 45 aircraft parking positions, with reserves for expansion when needed.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/mien-tay-nang-cap-mo-rong-hang-loat-san-bay-mo-cua-bau-troi-20250512224043284.htm