Long Thanh Airport land acquisition falls behind schedule

By Dat Nguyen July 17, 2020 | 03:30 am PT

An artist's impression of the Long Thanh International Airport in the southern Dong Nai Province. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Transport.

Delayed land acquisition disbursement for Long Thanh International Airport could hamper first phase construction.

As of June this year only 10 percent of the VND18.19 trillion ($784 million) allocated for airport land acquisition and compensation has been disbursed, reported the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Authorities of southern Dong Nai Province, where the airport is located, in April committed to disburse all funding within this year, but the low disbursement rate means Dong Nai would likely fail to complete land acquisition and compensation by 2021 as promised, it was added.

A delay in land acquisition would consequently slow first phase airport construction, scheduled to begin in the second quarter next year and complete by 2025.

Dong Nai Province will have to reclaim 5,000 ha in total for the whole project. Work on the first of two resettlement areas began in April, with residents set to receive their lots in August.

Last November, over 90 percent of lawmakers voted in favor of a resolution on a feasibility study report to build Long Thanh International Airport.

After the first phase is complete, the airport would have one runway and one terminal with a capacity of handling 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo a year. First phase investment is set to cost almost VND111.69 trillion ($4.8 billion).

After all three phases of the airport are completed by 2050 at a total estimated cost of VND336.63 trillion ($16 billion), it would be able to handle 100 million passengers and five million tonnes of cargo a year, picking up overflow from Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, which is currently operating at far above its designed capacity.