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Despite being upgraded, it is still unable to meet the demand for passenger and goods transportation, Chinh said at the groundbreaking ceremony for a terminal each at Tan Son Nhat Airport and Dong Nai's new Long Thanh Airport on Thursday.
"By 2024 the airport will be overloaded to more than twice its capacity, and its infrastructure has deteriorated and is outdated after many years of use, affecting service quality and reducing the competitiveness of the country," Chinh said.
On Thursday a flight carrying Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang was affected by the overload at Tan Son Nhat and had to be diverted to Nha Trang.
Tan Son Nhat airport has been serving 36 million passengers a year since 2017, or nearly 100,000 a day on average, exceeding its designed capacity of 25 million a year.
Chinh said the two projects would help make Vietnam a major regional and global transport hub, promoting development and improving national competitiveness.
The 150-hectare Long Thanh Airport terminal will cost VND35 trillion (US$1.5 billion) and have 40 gates.
It is set to open in 2026.
It has a lotus-shaped design, and will have artificial waterfalls and gardens.
Construction of the T3 terminal at Tan Son Nhat Airport will cost VND10.99 trillion and take 20 months.
It will have high-rise parking lots, a viaduct system and other infrastructure and services.
Once completed, it will be used as one of two domestic terminals and have a capacity of 20 million passengers a year.
Tan Son Nhat's third terminal design. Video by Tuan Viet, Do Nam
