Agreed to add a runway at Long Thanh airport, extending the time until 2026

The appraisal agency agreed with the Government 's proposals to adjust the investment policy of the Long Thanh International Airport Project, including adding an additional runway and extending the phase 1 time to the end of 2026.

Agreed to add a runway at Long Thanh airport, extending the time until 2026

The appraisal agency agreed with the Government's proposals to adjust the investment policy of the Long Thanh International Airport Project, including adding an additional runway and extending the phase 1 time to the end of 2026.

Approval for additional runway, extension of phase 1 implementation time of Long Thanh airport to 2026

This afternoon (November 12), Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang, authorized by the Prime Minister, presented to the National Assembly a Report on adjusting the investment policy of the Long Thanh International Airport Project.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang. Photo: Duy Linh

Accordingly, the Government proposed that the National Assembly consider and adjust the scale and implementation time of Phase 1 in Clause 6, Article 2 of Resolution No. 94/2015/QH13 dated June 25, 2015 and Clause 1, Article 1 of Resolution No. 95/2019/QH14 dated November 26, 2019 as follows: “Phase 1: Invest in the construction of 2 runways in the North and 1 passenger terminal and synchronous auxiliary items with a capacity of 25 million passengers/year, 1.2 million tons of cargo/year; completed and put into operation by the end of 2026 at the latest”.

Thus, compared to the present, the Government proposes to “extend” the completion schedule to the end of 2026 instead of the end of 2025 as at present. At the same time, the Long Thanh International Airport Project Phase 1 also adds 1 more runway.

According to the Government's report, at the time of approving the investment policy of the Project, due to difficulties in determining the capital source for investment, the National Assembly decided that Phase 1 of the Project would only invest in "Runway No. 1" in the Northern region; in case Long Thanh International Airport has to temporarily stop operating due to an incident on "Runway No. 1", Tan Son Nhat International Airport will play a supporting role for Long Thanh.

However, during the implementation of Phase 1, the Government realized that the immediate construction of "Runway No. 3" 400 m north of the "Runway No. 1" being invested in right in Phase 1 would bring many benefits. Moreover, the immediate investment in "Runway No. 3" also has many advantages such as: In accordance with the approved planning; The site has been cleared; The roadbed has been leveled to the design elevation; Saving costs and construction time; The investor has arranged capital source 2.

Specifically, according to the plan, Tan Son Nhat International Airport serves 50 million passengers/year. Currently, it has served over 41 million passengers/year. It is expected that by 2030, the demand for air transport in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces will be about 71 million passengers/year. In case "Runway 1" of Long Thanh International Airport has a problem, flights will have to be transferred to Tan Son Nhat, at that time Tan Son Nhat Airport will be overloaded, aircraft will have to wait in the air, causing additional costs and affecting the environment.

Therefore, the immediate construction of "Runway No. 3" will meet the needs of exploiting Phase 1 of Long Thanh Port when "Runway No. 1" has an incident, without having to switch to Tan Son Nhat Port.

In addition, the immediate construction of "Runway No. 3" will not interrupt the operation of Long Thanh Port due to infrastructure connections and the impact of dust during construction.

Currently, "Runway No. 3" has been leveled to the design elevation, the investment cost for completion is low, only about 3,304 billion VND and does not exceed the total investment of Component Project 3 of 99,019 billion VND but still contributes to increasing the capacity and operational efficiency of the Port.

Immediate implementation not only improves investment efficiency but also contributes to perfecting transport infrastructure, reducing logistics costs, enhancing economic competitiveness, and serving well the task of ensuring national defense and security.

In the review report, the Economic Committee agreed with the above adjustment proposals of the Government.

Firstly, adjust the investment phase of the construction of Runway No. 3 of the Project from Phase 3 to Phase 1, to put it into operation synchronously with Phase 1, ensuring compliance with the actual situation, meeting the continuous operation needs of the Airport when a runway has problems, improving the investment efficiency of the Project...

Chairman of the Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh reads the audit report. Photo: Duy Linh

Second, adjusting the implementation time of Phase 1 of the Project to December 31, 2026 is necessary to complete the entire Phase 1 of the Project, including Runway 3, as the expected completion time of this runway is 24 months. At the same time, extending the time will create conditions for synchronizing auxiliary infrastructure, connecting routes, terminals and other supporting works in a more reasonable manner, especially synchronizing with the completion deadline of the investment in construction of Runway 3, helping to optimize long-term operational efficiency.

However, there are opinions suggesting to clarify more subjective causes leading to slow progress of the Project; clarify responsibilities and lessons learned for the organization of implementation of the Project in particular and other important national projects in general, ensuring effective use of the state budget.

The government needs to pay attention to supporting the livelihoods of people whose land has been recovered.

In addition to adjusting the investment scale and project implementation time, the Government also proposed that the National Assembly allow the Government to organize the approval of the Feasibility Study Report to adjust Phase 1 of the Project under its authority without having to report to the National Assembly for approval.

In the review report, the Economic Committee stated that, to date, the Project has basically met the requirements set by the National Assembly and the Project implementation process has been carefully studied, considered and legalized according to the provisions of Point a, Clause 1, Article 40 of the Law on Public Investment. Therefore, to accelerate the progress of Project implementation, the Government's proposal is appropriate.

In addition, some opinions suggested that the Government and local authorities continue to pay attention to finding solutions to stabilize the lives, housing, livelihoods, and jobs for people whose land has been recovered, people in the areas affected by the Project, and continue to effectively implement other contents according to the National Assembly's Resolutions on the Long Thanh International Airport Project; suggested that the Government, ministries, branches, and localities have solutions to direct the resolution and handling of shortcomings and limitations in the implementation of the Long Thanh International Airport Project Phase 1 to ensure the completion of the Project, put it into operation, and exploit it effectively, economically, and against waste.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/nhat-tri-bo-sung-mot-duong-bang-o-san-bay-long-thanh-gian-thoi-gian-den-nam-2026-d229814.html