Construction consortium loses $250M Long Thanh airport bid over missed $13 fee

The consortium of eight companies has lost the bid to build an aircraft parking apron at what will be the largest airport in Vietnam, the bidding organizer Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) announced recently.

The winner was the only other bidder, a consortium of six companies led by military-owned Airport Construction Corp.

Deo Ca consortium lost because one of its members, Hoang Long Construction Investment Corp., failed to submit on time a VND330,000 fee to keep its account active on the government’s bidding website, ACV said.

The account was suspended on June 30, it added.

Deo Ca consortium disagreed with the result. It has so far made three petitions for the bidding result to be canceled, saying that at the time its consortium was evaluated to be a bidder, Hoang Long’s account was active and operational.

It said that it has made a bid VND461 billion lower than the competitor, which would benefit the state’s coffers. It also asked for authorities to conduction investigations on the bidding process.

ACV, however, stood by its decision to disqualify Deo Ca consortium, saying that the bidding process was done legally.

Spanning 5,000 hectares in the southern province of Dong Nai, Long Thanh Airport has a total investment cost of around VND336.63 trillion.

In its first phase, expected to be completed in 2026, the airport will accommodate 25 million passengers annually.

After two more construction phases its capacity will be upgraded to 100 million, triple that of Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat International Airports in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.