US-built aircraft revetments to be removed from HCMC airport

The ministries of transport and national defense have been tasked with collecting opinions from related units on the clearance to create more space for the airport to serve large aircraft.

Each of the revetments, built by the U.S. to use during the Vietnam War (1955-1975), is 20m long, 10m wide and 3m high. They are currently managed by the Vietnam People’s Air Force.

The revetments are placed in the area where a drainage system and a taxiway have been built. Since the revetments prevent the taxiway from being used, the operation of large aircraft has been affected.

The revetments as seen in a Google Map's satellite image, June 2022.

In late April, a project to upgrade Tan Son Nhat airport was completed after two years.

Costing more than VND2 trillion (over $87 million), the project included work to upgrade two runways, renovate five existing taxiways, build three new rapid exit taxiways, a drainage system, and set up taxiway lights as well as aviation signboards.

The airport can now have 40 flights land or take off every hour. Earlier the airport could handle 33 during the day and 32 at night.

The number of passengers passing through the airport has increased by an average of 10 percent a year for several years to around 29 million by 2019, though it was only designed to handle 25 million.