Turkish-led consortium wins Long Thanh airport terminal bid

The Airports Corporation of Vietnam, which is developing the airport, has instructed Vietur to start construction by the end of this month and complete it by November 2026.

Vietur comprises 10 companies, including IC Istas (a unit of IC Holdings) and Vietnamese private companies such as Ricons, Newtecons and Sol E&C. State-owned Vinaconex and Construction Corporation No.1 are also in the consortium.

IC Istas has experience building airports in Russia, Bulgaria and Turkey.

There were three consortiums bidding for the project, but only Vietur qualified in the technical round.

Hoa Lu Consortium, comprising eight contractors and led by Vietnamese construction company Coteccons, earlier this month said IC Holdings is incapable of undertaking such a large project.

But the ACV dismissed this, saying the bidding was conducted in a sound manner and all bidders were evaluated fairly by independent experts.

The terminal is the largest component in the airport construction in Dong Nai Province.

The airport has a price tag of around VND336.63 trillion.

The construction is divided into three phases. The first, with one runway and the terminal, was originally expected to be completed in 2025, enabling the airport to handle 25 million passengers a year.

In the second, to be completed by 2035, another runway and terminal will be added, doubling the capacity to 50 million.

Other infrastructure will be built by 2050 in the third phase, when the capacity will again double to 100 million passengers.